


Something About You

by ExtremeLight9



Category: Crash Bandicoot (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Minor Violence, Personal Growth, Racism, Sort of AU, Trust Issues, lots of feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-27 14:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8404372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtremeLight9/pseuds/ExtremeLight9
Summary: Everyone thought mutants were all evil, bent on destroying everything in their way so then why is this one so different from the others?





	1. Washed Ashore

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, I know this is a little late, but I wanted to write something for Crash’s 20th anniversary since it’s one of my favorite childhood games.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Crash Bandicoot.

The sound of waves could be heard nearby.

Crash slowly opened his eyes groggily and looked around to find himself lying on a sandy beach. His body was sore and when he tried to sit up he winced at the pain shooting through his arms and legs.

Looking down at his arms, he frowned when saw the small cuts on them. There were also some on his chest and he could feel a bruise blossoming in his side, but it was nothing too serious.

It wasn’t long until the fog in his mind cleared that he remembered where he got them from. It happened when he had to fight his way to escape the doctor’s lab. Slowly, Crash stood up and looked back at the sea where Cortex’s island was.

Despite feeling tired and sore, Crash sighed in relief when he didn’t see anyone coming after him. At least he knew that he was safe for now. He then turned around and stared at the jungle ahead.

Unsure of what else to do, Crash decided to explore the island. After all he needed to find out more about the place he ended up in.

Wasting no time, the bandicoot began making his way through the ruins. This was his first time coming to this place and he couldn’t help feeling a little excited as he looked around at the trees and animals.

Just then, something fell on Crash’s head and he yelped. “Ow!” wincing a little, he glanced down to see it was some kind of fruit. He couldn’t tell if it was an apple or a peach since it looked like both. Confused, he grabbed it and looked up to the tree it had fallen down from.

A low grumble coming from his stomach reminded him that it had been a while since he ate anything. Sniffing the fruit for a moment, Crash took a bite from it and his face lit up. It was really delicious.

He didn’t know how, but the pain in his body somehow lessened after eating from the fruit. His injuries still hurt a little, but not as much as before.

Crash continued his trek through the forest while munching on the fruit, unaware of the pair of eyes following him.

Suddenly, the bandicoot spotted something in the distance. Smoke.

Raising an eye brow at this, Crash threw the core away and ran down the forest path. He pushed his way through the plants until he soon saw a village not far from him.

Crash hadn’t been to one before. He only saw pictures of them in the books at Cortex’s castle. Curiosity getting the best of him, Crash was about to head there when someone shouted.

“Stop!”

Crash didn’t have time to register what happened as an invisible force suddenly knocked him backwards. He quickly recovered and took a fighting stance, trying to find the person who attacked him.

There was bright flash of light all of a sudden and when Crash looked up he saw floating wooden mask glaring at him. He had some colorful feathers on his head and a green goatee.

“Don’t go any further.”

* * *

 

Aku-Aku was flying high over the trees gazing at the ground below. His face then scrunched up when he spotted another destroyed area in the forest.

The magical mask had guarded this island and its inhabitants for centuries. He kept the threats of the outside world away.

Everything had been fine until Cortex showed up.

The man and his armies had destroyed huge portions of the islands just to build bases and factories to serve his evil plans. Aku-Aku had tried to fight them off and stop them as much he could, but he never managed to drive them away.

Over time his powers began fading and he realized that the more damage they caused to the islands the weaker he got. All he could do now is watch as the evil man and his minions destroyed Wumpa islands, their home.

Aku-Aku sighed dejectedly and headed towards the south. It was then he felt it, an invisible tug in his powers telling him that someone was near, someone who wasn’t from the island.

Wasting no time, he floated downwards to where the feeling was coming from. The mask looked around for the intruder until he saw something moving in the shrubs. He quickly hid behind a tree and watched as the creature walked out of the shrubs, revealing himself.

He looked like some kind of marsupial with orange fur and wore a jeans pants. Aku-Aku could tell he was one of Cortex’s creations, he sensed the same energy they all had in them coming from him. He looked like he had been through a rough patch based on how dirty and disheveled his fur was.

The wooden mask tensed as the bandicoot began heading toward the village.

“Stop!” Aku-Aku shouted sending a surge of his magic at him. “Don’t go any further.” He muttered after teleporting in front of him. The bandicoot quickly stood up and growled defensively, waiting for him to make the next move. He clearly wasn’t planning on starting a fight.

That wasn’t right. Usually, all the mutants who came here would attack the first chance they got, but for some reason this one didn’t. Instead, he stood there firmly and stared him down.

The spirit shook the confusion away and glared at the bandicoot. “You came here to destroy the village, didn’t you? Haven’t you monsters done enough damage already?”

Crash raised an eye brow at him and shook his head.

“Don’t lie, you mutants are all the same. All you want is to hurt and destroy.” Aku-Aku muttered.  “Turn around and leave, mutant!” he said commandingly, magical energy gathering around him.

Something unexpected happened.

The bandicoot’s eyes widen and his stance flattered, his expression changing drastically. Aku blinked at the sudden change in behavior. He suddenly looked so lost, so vulnerable.

Without warning, the bandicoot dashed away and disappeared in the trees, leaving the confused spirit alone.

Aku-Aku couldn’t understand what just happened. There was no mistaking the emotion in the bandicoot’s eyes just earlier. It was fear. He was actually afraid of him, but why?

Aku-Aku couldn’t think of a reason for that reaction. He didn’t think it was even possible. Even though he was a flying talking mask, he knew he didn’t look that intimidating. So why did the bandicoot look so terrified of him? He didn’t look scared when first saw him so why now?

He quickly shook himself out of the trance. It didn’t matter, the mutant was still running freely in the island and could hurt someone. He had to find him.

With that thought in mind, the mask flew in the same direction after the bandicoot.

* * *

 

Crash ran as fast as he could through the forest. He didn’t how long he was running, but at the moment he didn’t care. All he wanted was to get away right now.

It wasn’t long until he had to stop to catch his breath. Looking back, there was no sign of the floating mask anywhere and he sighed in relief, but when he looked up he saw something else.

A giant dark structure loomed ahead at the side of a river. Crash walked closer to the edge of the cliff to get a better look at it. It looked like a factory of some kind. Crash didn’t know why, but something about that place made him feel uneasy.

Shuddering a little, Crash turned around and began walking deeper into the forest.

* * *

 

After a couple of hours of searching, Aku-Aku found the bandicoot napping under a tree. Aku-Aku kept a certain distance between them and watched him curiously.

For a creature that enjoyed spreading chaos and destruction, this bandicoot looked really peaceful in his sleep…

_No!_

The spirit quickly shook those thoughts away before he could dwell on them any longer.

 _Stop thinking like that. Mutants are evil. Remember all the horrible things they’ve done!_ He thought to himself and flew closer to get a better look on him.

It was then he noticed all the wounds on the bandicoot’s body. They were cuts on his arms and chest that he hadn’t noticed before.

 _Well, he did look like he was limping slightly when he ran off._ Aku-Aku couldn’t help feeling a little guilty for attacking someone who’s already hurt, mutant or not.

Suddenly, the bandicoot stirred in his sleep and the mask quickly floated back to his hiding spot. The mutant scratched his head and stood up, stretching himself slightly.

Aku-Aku decided to follow the bandicoot for now. He was in the island for a reason, right? He needed to know why he was sent here, what he was looking for. Maybe if he kept an eye on him he’ll find out what he wants.

Aku-Aku then floated after the menace without getting too close to him, always a couple of trees behind.

Crash suddenly stopped in his tracks when a distressed noise reached his ears. Confused, he followed the sound until it led him to a bush. When he looked beyond it he saw it was a small fox with its head stuck inside a small pipe, probably from one of Cortex’s machines. The small animal kept trying to free itself, but never succeeded. Frowning, the bandicoot slowly approached the whimpering fox and knelt down.

Aku-Aku's face hardened. This was it. The moment where he’ll show his true colors. There’s no way the mutant will pass up the chance to hurt a vulnerable creature. The mask began gathering his energy, ready to interfere.

But there was no need for that.

The bandicoot got a hold of the fox’s body and gently released its head from the pipe before setting it on the ground again. The fox looked up at Crash and yipped almost gratefully at him before dashing between the trees. The bandicoot grinned, feeling proud of what he did.

Meanwhile, Aku-Aku’s jaw dropped, unable to process what he just saw. He couldn’t believe it. Nothing made sense anymore. He thought for sure the bandicoot would attack the fox without hesitation, but the mutant had proved him wrong once again.

The mask couldn’t remember any of Cortex’s minions doing anything like this. They were all aggressive and cruel as far as he saw, but this bandicoot hadn’t shown any of those traits. But why? Wasn’t he meant to destroy and harm anyone in his way?

After watching the fox leave, Crash was about to explore the forest some more when a familiar voice called out.

“Wait!”

Crash looked over and gasped when he saw the wooden mask. He immediately took a defensive stance and glared at him.

“Calm down, I’m not here to fight you. I…I came to apologize to you,” Aku-Aku stated guilty. Crash raised an eye brow in confusion and relaxed a little.

“I’m sorry for attacking you earlier. I thought you wanted to destroy the village. I was merely doing my duty and protecting everyone. All the other mutants who came before you caused nothing, but destruction to these islands. I thought you were no different from them.” He explained.

“But after observing you and seeing what you just did, I see now that you’re not like the others.” The mask muttered and the bandicoot looked relieved at that.

“Oh right, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Aku-Aku, guardian of Wumpa Islands. What about you, what is your name?”

The bandicoot stared at him for a moment and then grinned.

“I’m Crash.”


	2. Come Nightfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who’s interested, Crash isn’t really talkative in this fic and only speaks when he thinks it’s necessary

Somewhere in a closed room, a female bandicoot was staring at the window with a tired look in her eyes. She had blonde hair tied into a ponytail and wore blue overalls.

The walls of the room she was in were painted purple. There was a big bed, a wardrobe and a desk with piles of books and a laptop on top of it.

Sighing, the bandicoot gazed at the islands and the ocean surrounding them, her chest growing heavy with worry.

_Where are you, Crash?_

* * *

Aku-Aku sighed as he led Crash through the jungle, glancing back every now and then to make sure the bandicoot was still following him and hadn’t ran off.

What was he thinking? Letting a mutant wander around freely like this? Even if Crash didn’t hurt anyone so far, what will locals think? Aku-Aku knew they wouldn’t take kindly to one of Cortex’s minions living among them. 

Crash followed the floating mask quietly. It was true that he attacked him earlier today, but he wasn’t trying to hurt him right now and that’s what mattered to him. Though now that he wasn’t worried about his life, Crash noticed the state mask was in. There were cracks and dents on the wood that made up his face and the feathers on his head were ruffled. He looked pretty worn out.

What happened to reduce him to such state? Crash wanted to ask him, but didn’t know how to approach the subject.

“Just a little longer, we’ll be there soon.” Aku-Aku said. Crash raised an eyebrow at his, but didn’t say anything.

Soon enough, the two reached the beach. Crash glanced over to see the sun was setting. It’s going to get dark soon. Crash really didn’t want to find out what kind of creatures lurked in the darkness in the jungle at night. He looked at Aku-Aku in confusion, trying to understand why he brought him here.

“It’s right over there,” the spirit said. Crash looked straight ahead and his eyes widen. There was a small house just near the shore. The house was white with a red roof. It looked like it had been there for a long time.

“There used to be humans living in that house, but it’s been abandoned for years now. You could spend the night there.” Aku-Aku explained.

Crash smiled and was about to reach for the door knob when the mask stopped him. “Hold on,” he floated right in front of Crash with narrowed eyes. “Don’t think just because I’m letting you stay here means I trust you completely. I still have a lot of questions for you and I need you to answer them truthfully.”

Instead of being intimidated, Crash shrugged and gave him a thumbs up before opening the door. He then stepped inside and looked around curiously. Everything was covered in a layer of dust and the furniture looked like it hadn’t been used for a while. There were also a fireplace and a shelf filled with dusty old books.

Crash smiled wistfully. His sister would have loved to read them. Sighing, he sat down cross-legged and looked at Aku-Aku expectantly.

“Alright, tell me. Why are you here on the island? What are you looking for?” the mask asked.

Crash’s eye brows furrowed and he shook his head.

“Nothing?” Aku-Aku raised an eye brow suspiciously. That can’t be true. If there wasn’t anything for him here then why did he come to the island? “Then when are you planning to leave?”

Crash frowned and stared at the floor for a moment thoughtfully. He never really thought of that. Would it be safe for him to leave anytime soon? Where would he go from here?

Finally, Crash shrugged his shoulders in response, not knowing what else to do.

Aku-Aku searched the bandicoot’s face for any trace of a lie, but he found nothing.

“Okay, that’s enough for now I guess. You can go rest if you want,” Aku-Aku sighed.

Crash yawned and stood up. He then turned around and began heading to what he assumed to be the bedroom. Before going inside, he looked back at Aku-Aku.

“Good night,” he said.

Aku-Aku blinked, taken aback. “G-Good night.” He stuttered awkwardly.

Crash smiled and finally went inside.

* * *

  _Everything around him was black._

_Crash didn’t know where he was, but the first thing he realized was that he couldn’t move his body. He struggled to escape whatever he was bound to, but nothing worked. He started panicking._

_There were suddenly lights flashing in the dark and two voice speaking._

_“Do you think he’s ready?”_

_“Not yet, but he will be soon,”_

_A loud humming sound then filled the air before everything around him exploded into blue light and Crash screamed._

“Crash, wake up!” someone yelled.

Crash woke up with loud gasp, his heart pounding against his chest. He looked around frantically and felt slightly relived when recognized the furniture of the old bedroom.

Looking over, he saw Aku-Aku hovering next to him worriedly. “Are you alright?”

Crash took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. He suddenly felt wetness in his face and touched his cheek to realize there were tears falling down from his eyes. He quickly whipped them away hoping the mask hadn’t seen them and just nodded at him.

Aku-Aku frowned in concern. It was a few hours after the bandicoot went to sleep, when Aku-Aku suddenly heard whimpering coming the bedroom and he found Crash thrashing in his sleep.

“Are you sure? You looked really unsettled and kept muttering things in your sleep.” The mask said.

Crash’s eyes widen at this. “T-Things like what?”

“I don’t know, I couldn’t make out any of it, but it sounded really bad.” Aku-Aku answered. “Do you wish to talk about it?”

Crash quickly shook his head, not wanting to think about the nightmare or anything related to it. He quickly faked a yawn and rolled over, hoping it’ll be enough to convince the mask to leave. “Sleep,"

Aku-Aku raised an eye brow, but decided not to question it. He slowly made his way to the door and slipped through it.

Crash waited for a few seconds before rolling and watched the door to make sure the mask was really gone. Once he was sure he was alone, Crash flopped back on the mattress and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully while the memory of the nightmare kept playing in his mind.

Tomorrow, he will decide where he’ll go from here.


	3. Resolve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so excited for the N. Sane Trilogy!

Crash slowly opened his eyes and screwed them shut from the blinding sunlight coming from the window. He sat up and let out a loud yawn, scratching his head.

He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night because of the nightmares. Every time he closed his eyes, he’ll be back to that place with the flashing machines, the scary noises and the feeling of being really vulnerable.

Sighing, Crash reached for his shoes on floor and began putting them on. He then hopped off the bed and made his way out of the bedroom, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was forgetting something.

Looking around the house for a moment, Crash raised an eyebrow when he couldn’t find the floating mask anywhere. “Mr. Mask Guy?” Crash called out. He scratched the back of his neck in confusion, wondering where he could have gone. Deciding not worry too much about it, Crash shrugged and went outside, stretching a little and enjoying the feeling of morning sunlight on his fur.

Glancing from the corner of his eye at the sea where the daunting structure of Cortex’s castle was, Crash was reminded that he was not safe here.

Cortex’s henchmen could come looking for him any second and he had no idea what they’ll do if it ever happens. The only person Crash knew on this island that could help him out was the mask guy and even he was still weary of him.

And then there was Coco. Crash hadn’t seen her in so long and his chest grew heavy in worry at the thought of his sister. Where was she now? Is she okay? Did Cortex do something to her? Many more questions plagued the bandicoot’s mind, but he had no answer to them.

He was so deep in thought that he didn’t see where he was going and ran into a tree. Rubbing his forehead in pain, Crash looked up to see it was another tree with that strange fruit from before. A low rumble reminded him that he hadn’t had breakfast yet.

Crash stuck his tongue out and rubbed his hands together. He could think later, but now…….. 

* * *

 

After checking on all of villages on the island, Aku-Aku began making his way back to Crash. Since he didn’t need sleep, the mask spent most of the night patrolling the island. Despite being weaker than he used to be, he was still the guardian of Wumpa Islands and it was his job to make sure that everyone was safe. 

It was daylight by the time he made it back to the old house, but to his surprise no one inside.

“Crash?” he called out, but nobody answered. Feeling his paranoia kicking in, the mask flew to the kitchen calling frantically. “Crash, where are you! This isn’t funny!” he said.

Aku-Aku suddenly caught sight of something in the beach. He quickly flew over to the window see it was Crash…..climbing a Wumpa tree.

“Oh no,” the mask muttered and flew through the window towards him. “What are you doing up there!?” he shouted in panic.

Crash smiled and waved the fruit in his hand at him.

“Okay, that’s great. Now get down from there!” the mask exclaimed.

Crash just put the Wumpa into his mouth before sliding down the stem of the tree, but halfway through the bandicoot lost his grip and fell backwards, landing on his back with a grunt.

“Crash!” Aku-Aku gasped and quickly flew to his side to check on him. “Are you alright?”

Crash sat up with a dazed expression, but gave him a thumbs-up.

 “What were you thinking!? You could have gotten seriously hurt or worse!” Aku-Aku scolded, but the bandicoot just ignored him as he looked around until he found the fruit and began munching on it before giving him a lopsided grin.

Aku-Aku sighed and shook his head, but he was still glad Crash was okay. That was pretty reckless of him. He could’ve gotten injured by his fall and neither of them would’ve known what to do. _I shouldn’t leave him alone for too long._

He was suddenly brought back from his musings when Crash gestured to the fruit in his hands and tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Oh you’re asking about that? Well, it’s called Wumpa fruit. They’re very rare and only grow here which is why some may call these Wumpa Islands. It’s the only place you can find them in the world.” Aku-Aku explained. Crash raised an eyebrow and stared at the fruit in his hands in puzzlement.   

Suddenly, the moment was shattered by a loud scream coming from somewhere in the forest.

The two exchanged worried looks before hurrying towards the cries of help. Soon enough, Crash saw something up ahead that made him stop in his tracks in horror.

A giant Venus flytrap plant had its vines wrapped around a small bipedal tortoise child, staring at him with its huge maw wide open.

The father was trying to fight off the vines with a stick, but was easily knocked away by the demonic plant. The child continued screaming for help.

Aku-Aku began charging his magic, but was startled when Crash sprinted towards it. “Crash, wait!”

But the bandicoot didn’t listen and jumped towards the plant’s head and punched its jaw, sending it reeling back and dropping the kid. The flytrap then snarled at Crash and smacked him with a vine sending him tumbling away.

It wasn’t long until Crash felt thorny vines wrap around his legs and arms, keeping him on the ground. He cried out, thorns sticking through his fur and into his skin.

Gritting his teeth, the bandicoot struggled to get free, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t escape the vines. Crash glanced up to see the flytrap’s head looming over him, saliva dripping from its maw. It leaned closer and opened its mouth showing off its sharp fangs, ready to devour him.

Running out of ideas, Crash sunk his teeth into a vine and bit down on it as hard as he can. The monster let out a pained screech and jerked away, loosening its grip on the bandicoot.

Letting out a shaky breath, Crash quickly jumped into the air and with all his strength delivered a powerful kick to the monster’s jaw, knocking it away dazed.

A bright beam of green light suddenly came from behind Crash and hit the demonic plant. Crash looked back to see it was from his friend, Aku-Aku. He then looked back to the plant to see dark mist coming out of it and slowly vanishing, leaving a normal flytrap plant behind.

Crash scratched his head in confusion, unsure of what to make of this. He didn’t have time to dwell on it though as the elderly tortoise grabbed his hand and began shaking it.

“Thank you, thank you, boy. I don’t what would I have done if you hadn’t shown up.” He said gratefully. “Thanks for saving my grandson,”

Crash grinned sheepishly at the praise while Aku-Aku smiled next to him.

“I really don’t how to make it up for you. I-” the tortoise froze when he noticed something and suddenly pulled away from him with a horrified gasp.

Crash blinked in confusion and looked down at his hand, eyes widening when saw what it was. The letter N was written in black on the back of Crash’s hand, a mark he concealed with his fingerless gloves. Now he realized what he had forgotten this morning.

The bandicoot tried to cover it from them, but it was too late. The damage was done.

“You….you’re one of Cortex’s minions!” the tortoise said in disbelief, the warmth and gratitude in his voice was all gone. Now he was he looking at Crash as if he was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen. “I can’t believe I was actually thanking a thing like you!” he said, pulling his grandson away.

Not liking where this was going, Aku-Aku interfered. “Hold on, you can’t be serious. Crash just saved your grandson,” he tried to reason. The tortoise scoffed.

“Only so he could hurt him himself. That’s what the likes of him always do. Why are you even defending this menace? Aren’t you supposed to protect the island from freaks like him?” He sneered accusingly at the spirit and sent venomous glare towards Crash. “Don’t you dare come anywhere near my grandson again, you little scum!”

With that, the old tortoise stormed away with his grandson, leaving the two behind in utter shock. Aku-Aku looked from Crash to them helplessly, not knowing what to say or do.

Crash’s heart sank and his ears drooped, feeling like someone had slapped him across the face. Hearing those words directed at him had stung even more than imagined. He…..He was just trying to help.

Turning away, Crash began making his way back to his house with a dejected look on his face.

Aku-Aku flew by his side. “Hey Crash, don’t listen to that old fool. I think what you did back there was great,” he said softly.

It doesn’t make everything all right, but Crash smiled a little at him. He stopped when remembered something and pointed towards the flytrap. “What was that thing?”

Aku-Aku sighed gravely. “It’s the work of my brother, Uka-Uka.” He said, not noticing the way Crash stiffened at the name. “He uses his dark magic to corrupt the creatures of this island and turn them into….beasts like that one,” he explained.

“There are more!?” Crash shuddered at the thought of more monsters lurking somewhere in the forest. He then recalled what happened with that kid earlier and how often it must have happened, how many innocents were harmed by these things. Crash rubbed his chin. Something has to be done about it.

“Crash?” Aku-Aku said, noticing the thoughtful look on his face. “Is something wrong?”

Crash turned to his friend with a huge devious grin. The mask didn’t know how, but somehow he knew it promised him a lot of trouble later.


	4. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, don’t worry I haven’t abandoned this story. I’ve just been suffering from writer’s blog for the last few months, but I still plan on finishing this fic. I’m also planning on adding some twists to what happened in the game so you guys might notice some things going differently from canon.

Coco huffed as she closed the book she was reading and placed it back on her desk. Leaning back against the chair, she let out tired sigh and looked around herself. She couldn’t remember how long she had been sitting in this room. She had buried herself in her books and after a while she lost track of time.

 

Standing up, the bandicoot walked across the room and stared through window. Her gaze stayed on the distant islands and she felt her chest grow heavy with worry. She hated being locked up here when she could be looking for her brother. She wanted to leave this place and head for the islands to find him.

 

But you don’t even know if he’s really there. The memory of her brother falling into the ocean flashed in her mind. Coco quickly shook her head and pushed the negative thought to the back of her mind. No, Crash had to be there and she refused to believe otherwise!

 

She peeked out of the window and looked down below, feeling a shudder run through her spine at how high she was. Unfortunately for her, her room was on the top floor of the castle so she couldn’t try to escape through the window and risk falling into the ocean.

 

Cortex probably knew that too.

 

The thought of the scientist made her scowl angrily. She turned away from the window and began pacing the room, trying to think of a way to escape this place, but no matter how hard she tried the girl couldn’t come up with anything.

 

Of all the times her brain had decided to fail on her…..

 

Out of frustration, Coco marched towards the door and with all her strength she kicked it hard. The result was pain immediately shooting through her foot and the girl winced. Okay, bad idea.

 

She made it back to her bed and took off her shoe to massage her sore foot before flopping down on the mattress in defeat. There was just nothing for her to do. She no idea how to leave this room, let alone the castle and she knew almost nothing on how she would find Crash. He could be anywhere on those islands and it might take her weeks before finding a trace of him. The feeling of helplessness from her situation was weighing on her mind.

 

Suddenly, the door opened and Coco sat up to see none other than Dr. Cortex enter the room. “Why, hello there Coco.”

 

Coco immediately scowled. “What do you want Cortex?” she huffed and crossed her arms, not in the mood to deal with him.

 

The scientist just smiled. “Oh nothing, just came to check on you. After all, you are the smartest mutant I’ve created…..unlike that idiot of a brother you have.” He added with a look of disdain on his face.

 

This wasn’t the first time Cortex spoke that way about her brother and it infuriated her. “Hey, my brother is not an idiot!”

 

“Everybody in this castle would probably disagree with you.” Cortex replied calmly. “So, have you changed your mind about working in the lab?” he said, recalling the mess she made when she refused to cooperate. That’s what ended her up here in the first place.

 

Coco shook her head with a scowl on her face. “There’s no way I’m helping you with anything!”

 

“Well, if want to be difficult about this then fine. You’ll change your mind eventually.” He said grinning and Coco couldn’t help shivering, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

 

The Vortex.

 

“I’ll be heading out now,” Cortex said and began walking towards the door.

 

Coco grabbed a pillow from her bed and quickly flung it at Cortex, nailing him at the back of his head. The scientist growled and glared at the female bandicoot before he shut the door and walked away.

 

Grumbling under his breath, Cortex began making his way back to the lap. It wasn’t long until he saw N. Brio working a computer. The man turned to him. “There you are sir, I’ve been waiting for you!”

 

“What is it?” Cortex asked with a raised brow.

 

“I found Crash.” Brio said. “He’s on Wumpa Island!” the man pressed a few buttons and the huge screen showed Crash running through the jungle.

 

Cortex smirked. “Excellent.”

 

\--------

 

“Crash, slow down!” Aku-Aku exclaimed as he tried to keep up with the bandicoot who was sprinting back towards the old house. Hurrying inside the house and into the bedroom, Crash looked around for a moment until he spotted his gloves on the nightstand.

 

He wasted no time putting them to cover that awful N symbol on the back of his hand. Grinning, Crash then made his way outside where Aku-Aku was waiting for him. “Alright, now can you explain to me what are you planning?”

 

Instead of answering him like he expected, Crash simply pointed back to the forest, but Aku-Aku didn’t get what he wanted. The mask had concluded that the bandicoot wasn’t much of a talker and only spoke when it was needed, but why is that?

 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re trying to say,” Aku-Aku said. Crash frowned and scratched his head before he started making growling noises and swiping at the air as if he has claws.

 

It soon dawned the mask what he wanted and his eyes widen. “Wait, you want me to take to where the monsters are?” he asked in disbelief, but Crash grinned and nodded at him.

 

“No!” Aku-Aku muttered firmly and the marsupial’s smile fell. “I won’t do that. Why do you even want to see one?”

 

Didn’t they barely survive that fight with the demonic plant? He thought Crash wouldn’t want to go anywhere near those creature after that horrible encounter.

 

Crash clutched his fists and began punching the air in front of him.

 

“You want to fight them!?” Aku-Aku’s jaw dropped. “Y-You can’t be serious. Why would you want to-”

 

It was then he realized the bandicoot’s intentions and sighed. “You want to protect the island, don’t you?” he asked, though he already knew the answer. Crash nodded frantically.

 

“Look Crash, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I can’t let you go through with this. It’s too dangerous. Do you understand that?” he muttered. Besides, protecting the island and everyone was Aku-Aku’s duty and he can’t accept someone else’s help.

 

…especially a mutant.

 

Aku-Aku blinked, not sure where that thought came from.

 

Crash frowned and pointed to the forest again urgently this time, but Aku-Aku shook his ‘head’. “No Crash, go back home and rest.” He said, his tone gently, but firm.

 

Crash huffed and began walking to the house, making Aku-Aku sigh in relief.

 

He should have known that was too easy.

 

In a flash, Crash turned around and sprinted past the mask towards the forest.

 

“Crash!” Aku-Aku exclaimed, but the bandicoot continued running as he if didn’t hear him. The mask quickly flew after him. “Crash, stop!”

 

Crash just flashed him a teasing grin and jumped over a log on the road before continuing his dash through the jungle. Crash soon stopped in his tracks when he found a monster blocking the road. It looked like a crab, but it was huge, bigger than the ones he saw on the beach.

 

A strange gurgling noise came from within the creature before it charged at Crash, trying to tear at him with its claws. Crash yelped and quickly dodged the attacks before jumping on top of the crab and landing behind it.

 

The monster made an angry noise and dashed towards the bandicoot. Grinning, Crash charged at it and then began spinning like a tornado. The creature was knocked away and crashed into a tree.

 

Crash quickly turned to the mask and pointed at the dazed monster urgently.

 

“A-Alright!” the mask flew over the monster and casted his green magic, changing the monster back to a normal crab. He then floated away from the monster, unable to believe that actually worked.

 

Crash whooped and gave him a thumbs-up. Aku-Aku tried to stop himself from smiling, what Crash did was pretty reckless and irresponsible, but…he failed. “Fine, you might be onto something here,” he admitted with a small smile and Crash grinned cheekily before pointing at the path again.

 

Aku-Aku bit his lip in uncertainty and glanced at the spot where the crab was before sighing. “Alright, I'll lead the way,”

 

Crash cheered and then ran down the path with mask by his side.

 

For the rest of the day, the two came across several monsters including crabs and even demonic flytraps. With every monster defeated, Crash’s grew more determined and Aku-Aku began to feel a little more confident in the bandicoot’s plan.

 

Maybe…..there was actually a chance for them to save this island after all.

 

\------

 

“Alright, it’s getting late. We should head back now.” Aku-Aku said, watching the sun as it began to set.

 

Crash didn’t argue this time as the exhaustion began to catch up on him. Now he wanted nothing more than to go back to the old house and sleep.

 

Wasting no time, the two turned around and began heading back to the beach.

 

Suddenly, the two stopped when they heard a loud sound coming from behind them. “Did you hear that?” Aku-Aku asked.

 

Crash nodded. It almost sounded like….an explosion. Curious, the orange marsupial made his way to where the noises were coming from until he stopped when he reached the shore. He narrowed his eyes to see a distant island up ahead. He looked down to the water, but he didn’t think he could swim all the way over there.

 

Crash scratched his head, not knowing what to do. He glanced around and suddenly spotted a boat nearby. He made his way towards the boat and checked it.

 

This was perfect!

 

Crash’s grin fell slightly and looked around, but saw nobody. Who left this boat here and where were they?

 

Deciding on not to dwell on it, Crash hopped inside the boat. “Crash, are you sure this is a good idea?” Aku-Aku asked.

 

Crash pointed at the other island where bright lights were flashing in the dark and the loud noises kept coming.

 

“Very well,” Aku-Aku sighed.

 

Crash then used the boat to get to the island. He hopped off the boat once they made it to the beach and cautiously began walking through the dark towards the noises. Aku-Aku stayed close to Crash, his expression wary. The jungle was more dangerous at night so he had no idea what to expect.

 

Once they made to out of the bushes, they gasped. The entire clearing was destroyed. There were holes in the ground, the grass was singed and some trees had broken branches.

 

“What happened here?” Aku-Aku muttered in shock. Crash shrugged his shoulder, confused too.

 

Suddenly, the two snapped out of their trance at the sound of high-pitched laughter. Their gazes followed the sound to the ledge of a waterfall to see a blue kangaroo in a straight jacket, looking down at them with a crazed look on his face.

 

“Is he one of your friends?” the mask asked him uneasily, but the panicky look on Crash’s face told him otherwise.

 

Ripper Roo let out a manic laugh before sending several TNT crates down at them. Crash gasped and quickly ran around the clearing trying his best to avoid being blown to pieces by the explosives. He scrambled towards the bottom of the cliff and away from the clearing in his panic.

 

Panting heavily, the bandicoot knew the other mutant had to be stopped before he destroyed the rest of the island. He scowled and began climbing the stones.

 

“Crash, be careful!” Aku-Aku muttered.

 

Gritting his teeth, Crash continued climbing until he finally made it to the top. He pulled himself up and stumbled onto the ledge. While trying to catch his breath, Crash looked up just in time to see Ripper Roo pounce and slammed him into the ground.

 

Crash’s hands held the kangaroo back as he snapped his teeth at him. Growling, Crash used both his feet to kick the crazy mutant off him, sending him tumbling into the ground.

 

Despite being hurt, the kangaroo continued laughing, much to Aku-Aku’s disbelieve.

 

Once he got back on his feet, the kangaroo started hopping towards them and Crash rolled out of the way before he squashed him.

 

Crash looked back and yelped as Ripper Roo charged towards him again with the same unfocused look on his face. Without a second thought, Crash ran across the ledge and hopped onto the stepping stones to avoid him.

 

More TNT crates began falling from the waterfall, probably Ripper Roo’s doing. Thinking for a moment, Crash suddenly had an idea and began waving for the psychotic kangaroo to come to him.

 

Ripper Roo let out a crazy cackle before bouncing to Crash, ready to crush him. Crash smirked and jumped on a TNT crate before moving out of the way. The blast caught Ripper Roo and left him stunned on the stepping stone.

 

Crash took the chance and knocked the mutant away with a spin attack, sending him falling into the water.

 

“You did it, Crash. Well done,” Aku-Aku said and Crash grinned proudly. Unfortunately, the two weren't paying enough attention to their surroundings them at the moment. The mask saw it coming and cried out too late. “Crash, look out!”

 

Confused, Crash turned around just in time to see a TNT crate falling towards him and before he could react it hit the rock he was standing on.

 

Crash was knocked away by the blast, but instead of landing on the ground immediately like he expected, he found himself falling through the air. The last thing Crash heard was someone calling his name before he fell into the water with a splash and his world gone black.


	5. Origins (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, this took longer than I expected mostly because I had three tests to study for and an assignment to finish. College is tiring.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

“Crash!” Aku-Aku cried out as he watched his companion fall into the river. He quickly flew down and looked around, waiting for the bandicoot to come out of the water safe and okay, but that never happened.

 

They shouldn’t gotten blinded by their victory. They should have been more careful up there. _I’m supposed to protect people from danger!_ _How could I let this happen!?_ Aku-Aku thought guiltily.

 

“Crash, are you there? Crash!” he exclaimed, fear and dread filling him. Where was he? He should have come out. He _had_ to come out.

 

Aku-Aku screwed his eyes shut and extended his senses around the area, but to his dismay he couldn’t sense Crash anywhere. Wasting no time, the mask followed the river hoping to get any sign of the bandicoot.

 

He wasn’t sure why he cared this much about that mutant. He had only known him for over a day, but somehow he did. “Crash, answer me!” he called out as loud as he could, but no answer came. He glanced frantically around the riverbank for a flash of orange or blue or _anything_ that would indicate that the bandicoot was still there.

 

Shaking the despair from his mind, he continued looking for his companion. He tried to think of where the bandicoot could be. As far as he remembered, this river goes through the island and straight into the-

 

And that’s when the horrifying realization struck Aku-Aku. “Oh no,”

 

Without a second thought, Aku-Aku flew as fast as he could through the forest until he reached the end of the river where he found himself staring at the open sea. “ _Crash!_ ”

 

Crash meanwhile was being carried by the current, his body numb and his mind foggy. This feeling felt familiar….somehow.

 

Unable to do anything, the bandicoot drifted away.

 

**\---------**

  

_“Sir, hurry. I think he’s waking up!”_

 

Consciousness slowly came to him. He opened his eyes and immediately regretted that as a bright light blinded him. Sitting up, he winced at the throbbing pain in his head. His vision was blurry and there was a tingling sensation all over his body

 

He looked around and saw he was lying on a bed in a room with light blue walls and a window. The bandicoot scratched his head, wondering where he was and how did he end up here.

 

“Ah, I see you’re awake!” a voice beside him stated. He looked over and was surprised to see two men were in the room with him. Both of them wore lab coats and one of them for some reason had the letter N on his forehead.

 

The strange man spoke again. “Now I’m sure you’re confused about everything so let me introduce myself. I am your creator Dr. Neo Cortex and this is my assistant Dr. Nitrus Brio. You are in your room inside my castle.”

 

The bandicoot blinked and tilted his head to the side, his mind trying to processes everything they were telling him. Cortex waited for the mutant to say something, but when that didn’t happen he frowned.

 

“Brio, why isn’t he talking?” he asked his partner.

 

“I’m not sure sir. Maybe something went wrong during the mutation.” Brio answered, scratching his head.

 

“Well, it’s just a small detail I guess.” Cortex rubbed his temples and sighed. “Anyway, I created you to be a part of my team of mutants and-”

Crash’s ears suddenly perked up as they picked up voices nearby and glanced over to the door.

 

_“Quick, what are they saying?”_

_“I’m not sure. They stopped talking.”_

_“Ow, you’re stepping on my tail, mate!”_

_“Sorry!”_

 

The two men noticed the bandicoot’s stare and glanced back at the door where the voices came from. Frowning in dismay, Cortex walked over and banged on the door hard. There were several startled gasps from beyond it followed by the sound of rushing footsteps.

 

“I should have known they wouldn’t stay away like I told them. Now then, I guess I should think of a name for you.” He said as he walked back to them.

 

The bandicoot tried hopping off the bed and instantly lost his balance, crashing into the floor face-first. Groaning, he tried to sit up again, but his legs wouldn’t support him.

 

Desperately, the bandicoot grabbed onto the bedside and tried to stand up.

 

Cortex let out a light chuckle. “It’s alright, your still recovering from the mutation. It happens to all the time.”

 

A thoughtful look suddenly crossed Cortex’s face and he stared at the mutant in consideration. “Crash….Crash Bandicoot. I think its suits him. Don’t you think Brio?”

 

“I guess so,”

 

Cortex smiled and turned to the bandicoot. “Alright Crash, we’ll just do some checkups on you to make sure you’re physically okay before we take you to meet the other mutants.” he stated.

 

Once the tests were done, the two led Crash out of the room and through a hallway. He glanced around at the walls and paintings in awe. No matter where he looked, everything seemed to fuel his curiously even more. They soon passed a room and Crash stopped walking to look inside it.

 

The room was dark, but Crash could make out some machines and big cages in there. Some of the cages were broken for some reason.

 

Something about this room gave Crash a sense of unease, but for what reason he didn’t know.

 

“Crash, hurry up!” Cortex called out.

 

Glancing at the room one last time, Crash turned around and ran after the two doctors. Soon enough, they entered a huge room where a bunch of creatures were. They seemed to be training from what Crash could see. Some huge ones were lifting weights while others were using weapons such as guns and flamethrowers to fire at targets.

 

Cortex cleared his throat to get their attention and they quickly assembled in front of him. Some were giving Crash curious looks.

 

“Mutants, I introduce to you the newest addition to your team and your soon-to-be leader, Crash bandicoot!” Cortex stated, placing a hand behind Crash’s back.

 

“WHAT!?” the mutants gasped in shock. Even Crash looked at the doctor confused.

 

“D-Dr. Cortex, you can’t be serious about this.” The mutant in the red suit said in a gangster accent.

 

“Yeah, he’s too puny!” the large blue koala added. Crash felt his ears droop as the mutants continued complaining and judging him.

 

Cortex raised an eyebrow in dismay. “Are you questioning my decision?” he asked as if he was daring them to say so.

 

All of them shook their head frantically. “No, no! Of course not!” the crocodile looking one muttered.

 

“Good, now I know you’re all uncertain about this, but I can assure you that in time Crash will be an excellent leader.” Cortex stated though some of the mutants still had doubtful look in their eyes. “There are other mutants who aren’t present at the moment because they have missions on the islands, but you’ll meet them later. Now how about you boys introduce yourselves to Crash?”

 

“I’m Koala Kong!” the blue mutant muttered, flexing his muscles.

 

“Pinstripe.” The one in the red suit said solemnly.

 

“Name’s Dingodile, got it?” the crocodile said with a smirk.

 

“Tiny!” the large tiger roared, showing off his sharp teeth at the bandicoot who smiled nervously.

 

“Now that’s out of the way, I’ll leave you all to continue training. I have something to take care of elsewhere.” Cortex turned to his assistant. “Brio, you’ll in charge of everything while I’m gone, alright?”

 

“Yes, doctor,”

 

With that, Cortex turned around and left the room. Almost on cue, the mutants immediately gathered around Crash and began chattering over him.

 

“Seriously, why would the doctor make this little guy our commander,” Pinstripe said, the last word felt weird on his tongue.

 

“I know, I thought the same thing too, but I’m sure Dr. Cortex has his reasons.” Brio stated. “You never know, but Crash might turned to be fitting for the job.”

 

The mutants still didn’t look convinced. Crash yelped when Dingodile grabbed his arm and lifted him up. “He’s kind of scrawny though. We can’t send him to fight, they’ll rip him apart!”

 

Brio shrugged. “That shouldn’t be a problem. A little training just might be what he needs. Koala Kong, could you bring a training dummy?”

 

Koala Kong grunted and went to fetch a dummy from the corner of the room before placing it in front of Crash.

 

Clipboard in hand, Brio turned to the bandicoot. “Alright Crash, let’s see what you can do.”

 

Crash stared awkwardly at the motionless dummy for a moment before glancing back at them, unsure of what to do.

 

“C’mon, punch it! Like this!” Koala Kong demonstrated by punching the air in front of him.

 

Crash looked down at his hand before curling up his fingers around his thumb and prepared to hit it.

 

“Hold on, what is _that_?” Pinstripe asked, pointing at the fist Crash was making. “If you punch something like that, you’re gonna end up breaking your thumb.”

 

Crash frowned and tried fixing it, resulting in a groan from Dingodile.

 

“That’s not better!” he muttered and Crash flinched, his ears drooping.

 

“Well, he’s still getting used to how his body works. All of you have gone through something like this before.” Brio reminded them. “Dingodile, go help him.”

 

Sighing, Dingodile walked over and helped him fix his form. “Did I used to be as bad as him in the past?”

 

“Worse,” Pinstripe deadpanned and Dingodile groaned at that.

 

“Okay, try hitting it now Crash.” Brio said.

 

Crash’s brows furrowed in uncertainty, but he punched the dummy anyway. It didn’t have much of an impact and he heard someone scoff from behind him. When the doctor told him to keep going, he threw one punch after the other feeling his confidence growing with each hit.

 

 Almost on instincts, the bandicoot began spinning like a tornado and knocked the dummy several feet away, surprising everyone in the room. Crash stopped spinning and stood there baffled by what he did.

 

“Interesting…..never seen that before.” Brio finally said and wrote everything down on his clipboard. “Well done, Crash.”

 

“TINY SMASH NOW!” Tiny suddenly dashed to the dummy and began pounding it into the ground before tearing it open with his claws.

 

Crash blinked at this and glanced back at the doctor who sighed.

 

“That’s the sixth one this month,” he said, rubbing his temples. “Anyway, it’s time for agility training,”

 

Everyone except Crash groaned at that which made him scratch his head in confusion. Why are they bothered by that? It didn’t sound so bad.

 

Brio led the five to a nearby wall where a huge canon like device was set. There was also a red flag on the other side of the wall.

 

Pinstripe quickly raised his arm. “Can I be the one shooting doctor?”

 

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Brio shrugged. Pinstripe sighed in relief and smirked at his teammates who gave him dirty looks before taking his seat on the device.

 

Crash was still confused on what was going on so he walked over to Brio and pulled at his lab coat.

 

“What is it?”

 

Crash pointed at the device with a questioning look.

 

“Oh right, you’re new to this. Well, this training is simple. All you have to do is get to the flag while dodging the projectiles sent to you. It’s nothing too bad I assure you,” he explained casually.

 

Crash blinked.

 

What?

 

Pinstripe meanwhile activated the canon, a huge grin on his face.

 

“Dingodile, you go first!” Brio said without looking up from his clipboard.

 

Dingo gulped and stepped forward. At the doctor’s signal, he tried hurrying towards the flag, but his movement was sluggish and slow. Pinstripe slammed on the button and began shooting purple balls at him. Dingodile yelped as he tried dodging the assault, but he only ended up getting hit by several projectiles before he reached the flag and collapsed with a grunt.

 

Crash swallowed nervously.

 

Oh….that’s why.

 

“Tiny, you’re next!”

 

Without pausing, Pinstripe began shooting at Tiny, but the tiger walked slowly towards the flag while the balls bounced off him as if they were nothing.

 

“Uhh…..Tiny, you’re supposed to dodge,” Brio said meekly, but the tiger continued walking until he made it to the safe zone with Dingodile who was giving Pinstripe vengeful looks.

 

Brio sighed in frustration. Why did he agree to this again? “It’s your turn, Crash.”

 

Swallowing hard, Crash slowly stepped onto the line. He took a deep breath and steeled himself, waiting nervously for the doctor’s signal. Once it came, Crash all, but sprinted towards the safe zone.

 

Without hesitation, Pinstripe aimed at the bandicoot and began shooting at him with a grin.

 

Crash yelped as projectiles flew past him, feeling his heart hammering against his chest wildly. He jumped back when one nearly hit his leg and ducked as Pinstripe aimed at his chest.

 

“Stop moving!” Pinstripe sneered, getting frustrated as the bandicoot continued dogging his shots.

 

Crash ran as fast as he could to the safe zone and saw Pinstripe aiming directly at him again. Without thinking twice about it he slid across the floor, reaching the zone and evading all the shots.

 

Pinstripe growl and banged the device with his fist, wincing immediately in pain.

 

Panting and out of breath, Crash made an attempt to stand, but then he was pulled up by the other mutant.

 

“That was terrific, mate!” Dingodile muttered.

 

“YEAH!” Tiny grinned and gave him a strong pat on the back that nearly knocked him down again, but Crash still managed to keep himself steady and looked up at them surprised by the praise. He also noticed Brio scribbling furiously on his clipboard, looking pleased with what he saw. Crash found himself smiling widely.

 

Maybe it won’t be so bad here after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This arc centers on Crash having a flashback of his life in Cortex’s castle and everything that happened before he ended up on Wumpa Island later on. It’s going to be about three chapters long.
> 
> I also wanted to flesh out the personalities of the villains a little more since they don’t appear for long in the games.


	6. Origins (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for your continued support. I really appreciate it. I’m about to start my final exams, but once I’m done with them I’ll be able to update this fic more often.

It’s been two weeks since Crash woke up in the castle and became part of the mutant team. The other mutants had helped him put furniture into his room so he could properly move in.

 

They showed him around the castle and where their rooms were in case he needed anything. He also got to meet more mutants like the Komodo brothers, Joe and Moe. Then there was Ripper Roo who was a bit of a loose cannon.

 

Crash spent most of his time either training with the other mutants or exploring the castle. Cortex’s castle was HUGE and almost like a maze. Crash got lost twice while trying to find his way around the place.

 

After training that morning, Dingodile had taken Crash to the castle’s library saying it was one of his favorite places here. It was quiet and he apparently enjoyed reading. Crash ended up taking the ones that had pictures in them since he found those with only words pretty boring and made his head hurt.  

 

It wasn’t long until something else caught his attention though. The bandicoot found himself walking towards the window and staring at the distant islands. He had never left the castle before. Cortex never allowed him to so he couldn’t help feeling curious on what was out there. Were the islands like that book he read described them? Were there any seashells and crabs on the beach? He really wanted to go and see!

 

“Crash, get over here. You’ve been staring through that window for half an hour!” Dingodile called out from his seat, closing the book he was reading.

 

Snapping out of his trance, Crash turned to the other mutant and pointed at himself then at the island.

 

Dingodile raised an eyebrow. “You want to go to the islands? Well, you can only go there if you have a mission.”

 

Crash frowned and thought for a moment. He hadn’t been given a mission yet. He pointed at Dingodile and then out of the window.

 

“You want me to look out of the window?” he asked confused.

 

Crash shook his head and pointed at the mutant again then at the island with questioning look.

 

“You’re asking if I went to the islands before?”

 

Crash smiled and nodded.

 

“Well, of course I did. Countless times,” he shrugged, but when he noticed Crash pouting at him he raised his hands defensively. “Hey, don’t give me that look. It’s not up to me to decide. Dr. Cortex is the one who gives out missions!”

 

Crash made his way back to the table and sat down with a huff. He played with a page of the book he was be reading, glaring at nothing in particular.

 

It wasn’t fair! How come Cortex sends everyone on missions except him!? Didn’t the doctor say Crash was going to be the leader of the team? If so then why is he not included in any of this? Did he think Crash couldn’t handle it?

 

Noticing his mood, Dingodile spoke up. “Hey, I’m….I’m sure the doctor will have a mission for you soon. Maybe you just have to wait a little longer.” He said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. He was obviously not used to being comforting.

 

Crash sighed and nodded.

 

After leaving the library, Crash was walking down a hallway looking for something to pass the time with when he suddenly heard two familiar voices speaking in a room. Cortex and Brio.

 

They seemed to be talking about some device they were working on. The bandicoot shrugged and was about to leave, but stopped when he heard Cortex asking about him.

 

Curious, Crash leaned closer to the door and tried to hear what they were saying. He knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but he was really wanted to know what they thought of him.

 

“Crash? Well he’s doing great sir. His fighting style is very….unique. He’s very fast and agile too.”

 

Cortex chuckled. “See? I told you! Crash was the right choice for the position of the commander.”

 

Crash felt warmth and pride fill him. So the doctor didn’t think any less of him than the others? Maybe Dingodile was right. He just had to wait a little longer and Cortex will let him go with the others to the islands.

 

Feeling beyond relieved, Crash moved away from the door and hurried down the hallway.

 

**\-------**

 

“C’mon, pull harder!” Koala Kong exclaimed.

 

Crash grunted as he tried to lift the weights, his arms and legs trembling violently. He managed to lift it to his waist before dropping them on the floor, panting loudly.

 

Koala Kong rolled his eyes and lifted the weights with only one hand before setting it down. “Alright, now let’s have a boxing match!”

 

Crash groaned and felt like passing out then and there. Suddenly, someone entered the room and Crash looked up to see it was Dr. Cortex.

 

“Oh there you are Crash! Come with me. There is something I need you to see.” He said and motioned for him to come along.

 

Koala Kong huffed at having their training session cut short while Crash tried to hide the relief he felt. He waved goodbye at his companion and followed the doctor.

 

“This way,” The two walked through the corridors and took an elevator to the top floor. They stopped in front of a single ivory door. Crash scratched his head, wondering what was beyond it.

 

Cortex looked uncertain for some reason. “Before we enter, I guess I should explain to you why I brought you here. It’s about a new mutant named Coco. She’s….sort of your sister.”

 

Crash blinked at that and turned to him with a confused look. He has a sister? How?

 

Cortex raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember having a sister?” he asked.

 

Crash shook his head. Waking up in his room that day was as far as he could remember.

 

Cortex rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That’s strange. I’ll look into it later. Right now, you should go see her. She had freaked out when she woke up and refused to leave her room since then.”

 

Opening the door, Cortex and Crash went inside. Crash’s eyes searched the room. There wasn’t much other than a bed, a bookshelf and a desk. It wasn’t long until he caught sight of a figure curled up behind the bed. She seemed to be a female bandicoot with blonde hair tied into a ponytail.

 

Crash couldn’t see her face, but her eyes seemed to be downcast.

 

“Hello, Coco!” Cortex said with a smile and the girl tensed up at his voice.

 

“Go away,” she said without looking up at them, surprising Crash.

 

“But I brought someone you should meet. Don’t you want to meet your big brother, Crash?”

 

Coco glanced briefly at Crash who smiled at her and she looked away again. “No, just leave me alone.” She said and Crash felt a little hurt by the response.

 

Cortex sighed and rubbed his temples in frustration. “I thought this would surely work.”

 

Crash stared at his little sister for a moment before finally approaching her. She stiffened at the sound of his footsteps and jerked back in surprise when he sat next to her, not expecting him to actually act so bluntly. She scowled and avoided looking at him. “I thought I told you to leave me alone,” she huffed.

 

Crash frowned, but didn’t move away. Instead he held his hand out for her. She watched him from her spot with distrust, but he can see she was just confused and afraid. He kept his hand out and waited patiently for her to take it.

 

Not knowing what else to do, Coco hesitantly took his hand. Crash placed his other hand over hers and held it gently, silently assuring her that she had nothing to be afraid of.

 

Tension slowly seeped from her hand and she looked at him in bewilderment. Crash pulled her up and flashed her his signature smile. The girl blushed sheepishly, but managed to smile back at him.

 

From behind them, Crash could hear Cortex sigh in relief. “Finally,”

 

**\------**

 

The doctor led the two siblings down a hallway. Through most of the trek, nobody really said anything since they left the room. Crash scratched the back of his head awkwardly, unsure of what to do. The fact that he was an older brother was something he still couldn’t get his mind around.

 

“Hey, I’m…I’m sorry about what I said back there. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.” Coco finally said, looking down guiltily. Crash blinked at her and shook his head. He wasn’t upset about that anymore.

 

Realizing she hadn’t introduced herself properly, the girl smiled. “My name is Coco. You’re Crash, right?” She asked and Crash nodded.

 

Coco eyed him curiously, wanting to ask why he wasn’t speaking to her, but refrained herself from doing so.

 

The three soon reached the lab where they found Brio was tinkering with a device in his hands. “Hello, sir.” He looked past Cortex and gasped. “Oh, you finally got her out. That’s brilliant!”

 

While Cortex and Brio continued talking, Crash noticed his sister looking around the lab in awe. She slowly walked towards a large computer screen and traced her hand over the keyboard with unconcealed fascination.

 

“I see you interested in in my computer, huh?” Brio walked over and stood next to her. “Would you like me to show you how it works?”

 

“Of course!” Coco smiled excitedly.

 

Coco turned out to be a fast learner and was good with machinery. Crash tried to keep up with what they were saying, but most of the stuff they spoke of went over his head so he walked back and sat down on a chair, watching the three from his spot.

 

**\--------**

Later that night, Crash took his sister to the break room where all the mutants go after missions to introduce her to them. Once they entered the room, the mutants stopped what they were doing when they noticed Coco with him.

 

“Who’re you supposed to be?” Koala Kong asked warily.

 

“My name is Coco. I’ll be living here from now on.” She stated and they looked intrigued by this.

 

“We got a new team member already? That’s strange.” Pinstripe noted in confusion.

 

“Aw, who cares?” Dingodile muttered and grinned at her. “Name’s Dingodile, kid.” he said and the rest of the group then proceeded to introduce themselves.   

 

“It’s nice to meet you guys.” Coco said with a smile.

 

“Say, you look too much like Crash. Are you a bandicoot too?” Joe asked.

 

Coco giggled. “Yeah, I’m his sister actually.” She said which was rewarded with a loud ‘WHAT!?’ from the other mutants.

 

“Crash, how come you never told us you have a sister?” Dingodile turned to Crash with his arms crossed. Crash shook his head in an unsure manner.

 

“Seriously?” Pinstripe scoffed. When Crash turned to him confused, he immediately looked away.

 

“What’s wrong, Pinstripe? Still sour over losing to Crash two weeks ago?” Dingodile smirked.

 

Pinstripe blushed. “No, I’m not!”

 

“Yeah, you are. Just admit it.”

 

“He prides himself as the best shooter among us so it’s big deal to him when he couldn’t hit your brother.” Moe explained with a chuckle.

 

Pinstripe huffed and continued drinking his coffee though his face remained red.

 

“Hey Crash, I’m still holding you on that boxing match so don’t forget!” Koala Kong said and punched Crash in the shoulder playfully, but he put a little more force in it causing him to jerk back.

 

“Ow, hey!” Crash winced, rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder. It took him a moment to realize the room fell silent and everyone was staring at him speechless.

 

“Did…did you just _talk!?_ ”


	7. Origins (Part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. Thanks for all the feedback you’ve been giving me. This chapter was a little harder to write than I expected, but I’m glad I managed to get it out despite that.
> 
> Heads up, this is the chapter where everything goes wrong so prepares yourselves for angst and feels.

Crash sat there with his hand over his mouth, confused once he realized the words that left his lips.

 

“Crash, can you really speak?” Coco asked carefully.

 

Crash frowned and tried to muster up a reply. “I…I think so,” he said, the sound of his own voice felt alien even to him. 

 

Koala Kong scowled and marched towards Crash. “How come you never said anything before? Were you just messing with us all along?” he growled accusingly and the bandicoot flinched.

 

“Hey, knock it off!” Coco said as she stood between the two. “Don’t be so hard on him. Maybe he just didn’t know he could before.”

 

Crash rubbed the back of his head and gave them an apologetic smile. “Sorry,”

 

Koala Kong sighed and shrugged before going back to sit on the couch.

 

“At least now we’ll know what he wants instead of guessing all the time,” Dingodile muttered and some nodded at that.

 

“Uh…should we tell the doctor about this?” Joe asked.

 

Coco gasped. “Oh, you’re right! We should go tell him right now!” she said, excited to share the news. Wasting no time, she grabbed her brother’s hand and quickly left the room.

 

“Where is Cortex’s room?” she asked without stopping.

 

“T-This way,” Crash stuttered as he tried to keep up with her stride.

 

After several minutes of walking through the hallways and getting lost once, the two made it to the doctor’s bedroom and knocked on the door.

 

Cortex opened the door and glared at them tiredly. “What do you two want-”

 

“Dr. Cortex, you won’t believe it. Crash can talk now!” Coco cut him off.

 

“Hi,” Crash waved from behind her.

 

Cortex stared at the two for a minute before speaking up again.

 

“WHAT!?”

 

**\-------**

“Crash, give it back!” Coco exclaimed.

 

“Catch me first!” Crash grinned playfully with her wrench in his hand as the two siblings ran through the corridor.

 

Coco stopped chasing him. “Oh c’mon! You know you’re faster than me!” she huffed and Crash only responded with a shrug. Coco then looked past him and gasped. “D-Dr. Cortex, what are you doing here?”

 

“Huh?” Crash turned around only to feel the wrench slip from his hand. He looked back to see his sister waving the tool with a smug grin on her face.

 

“Not fair!” Crash groaned.

 

Coco giggled and walked over to the window. Curiously, Crash followed her and watched in awe at the sight of the bright orange sky and glimmering waters. The view of islands never looked more astounding than now. “It’s amazing even from all the way here. It makes wish I could go there and see it myself.” She turned to him. “What about you big brother, have you been to the islands before?”

 

Crash’s face went downcast and shook his head. “No,”

 

“Oh, w-well I’m sure we’ll be able to go there someday. Then you and I can go play on the beach!” she stammered, hoping to cheer him up.

 

Crash wasn’t really convinced by her words considering he had been waiting for weeks now. Still, he gave his sister a nod so she won’t get upset.  

 

Later that evening, Crash was looking down the stairs mischievously. Glancing around to make sure no one was near to scold him, he quickly jumped onto the railing and sild all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. He whooped and began to walk up again, ready to do it again.

 

“Oh Crash, there you are!” Crash turned to see Moe coming towards him. “Dr. Cortex wants to see you right now!” he said urgently.

 

Crash winced. Was he in trouble? Did they find out it was him who broke that painting of Cortex? He hadn’t meant it. It had been an accident!

 

“Okay,” Crash gulped nervously and followed the other mutant, expecting a scolding from his creator. After several minutes, the two reached the lab where the two doctors were waiting for them.

 

“Good, you found him.” Cortex said and dismissed Moe with a wave. “Crash, we’ve been watching your progress over the last two months. You’ve shown skills that no other mutant on the teams has. I finally decided that you’re ready for your final test.”

 

Brio nodded. “Yes, and if you succeed you will be send on your first mission as the team commander.”

 

Crash couldn’t believe it. A huge grin split his face at the thought of finally leaving the castle and seeing the outside world.

 

“Are you ready, Crash?”

 

Crash nodded without hesitation, barely able to conceal his excitement.

 

“Alright but before we leave I need you to come here for a second.”

 

**\-------**

Crash stood in the elevator with the two doctors, staring in confusion at the N symbol they painted on the back of his hand. When he asked them about it they said it was just a sign of his role among the mutants and added no further explanation.

 

The three soon entered a big chamber that Crash didn’t recall seeing before, but then again this castle was huge. Even though he have been living here for about two months, there could be more rooms that was he didn’t know about. After looking around for a minute Crash realized it was some sort of arena.

 

“Alright Crash, we’ll be watching you from up there. Don’t disappoint us,” Cortex said and Crash nodded eagerly before stepping forward. He looked up and was surprised to see the other mutant sitting in their seats cheering.

 

“Go Crash!”

 

“Show ‘em what you got!”

 

“You got this, big brother!” Coco exclaimed between them.

 

Crash grinned and gave them a thumbs up before steeling himself, ready for whatever challenge they threw at him. He had been waiting for this chance for a long time and he wasn’t going to lose it.

 

“Bring him in!” Cortex said.

 

Crash watched in slight confusion as Koala Kong entered the room carrying a human with tan skin in his hands restrained. He dropped the man on the ground before walking away to join the others.

 

“Now Crash, show us what you’re capable of. Attack him!” Cortex muttered.

 

Crash stepped closer and the man shook in fear making him hesitate. This didn’t feel right. Why did he have to attack him? The man wasn’t trying to hurt Crash nor could he fight because of the restraints. The bandicoot looked over to the mutants lost on what to do.

 

“C’mon, do it!”

 

“Quick stalling!”

 

Among the group, Coco was looking worriedly at him clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation.

 

“What are you waiting for, Crash? Finish him off!” Cortex said impatiently.

 

Those word made Crash stiffen and his breathing hitch as the weight of what was really happening settled in. The excitement and joy he previously felt was gone and replaced with dread and panic. No…No…he couldn’t….

 

The bandicoot gulped and stared at his frightened opponent once more, a sinking feeling in his chest. The human was looking at him pleadingly.

 

No, this was _definitely_ not right. Crash can’t bring himself to do something this cruel. He walked over to the shaking man and placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to flinch.

 

“Hey,” When the man looked up at him Crash smiled softly hoping to put him at ease and show that he meant no harm. “It’s alright,”

 

“What are you doing!? This isn’t what I ordered you to do!” Cortex shouted while the mutants looked confused.

 

Crash turned to them and shook his head, his mind made up. “I won’t do it.” He stated.

 

“What!? He’s right in front of you! This should be easy for you!” Cortex said baffled.

 

“Come on Crash, just do it!” Brio muttered, eyeing the doctor nervously.

 

“I don’t want to hurt him.” He replied and everyone gasped.

 

Cortex and Brio stared at him stunned as if he had grown a second head before his creator marched towards him, fist clutching. “What is wrong with you? Aren’t you going to head my orders?” he asked, his tone almost challenging him.

 

The tension in the room increased as they waited for his answer. Crash gulped nervously and shook his firmly, refusing to go through with this. “No,”

 

Cortex looked ready to explode in anger, but then sighed. “Get out of here. We’ll talk about this in my office.” He said, his voice calm, but firm.

 

Crash flinch and his ears fell before walking away.

 

“B-But sir, what about him?” Brio stuttered gesturing to the man in restraints.

 

“Just toss him back to the beach. I don’t care!” Cortex snapped before following the bandicoot.

 

**\------**

Crash was sitting in a chair, staring at the floor nervously as the angry doctor paced the room. The bandicoot opened his mouth and closed it several times, not knowing what to say.

 

“What were you thinking back there!? Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?” Cortex shouted, making the bandicoot flinch.

 

“I-I’m sorry-”

 

“That won’t make up for what you did. Now tell me why you didn’t attack him?” he asked with his arms crossed.

 

“I-I couldn’t fight him. He wasn’t trying to hurt me.” Crash tried to explain, hoping he would understand.

 

Cortex slapped his forehead and groaned. “ _That’s_ your excuse? You made a fool out of me in front of everyone simply because that?” he growled. “We have spent weeks training and preparing you! I created you for the sole reason to fight and you couldn’t even do that, you idiot!”

 

Crash’s ears drooped as the doctor continued scolding him. “But…But I-”

 

“Enough! Not only did you disobey me and fail the test, but you showed so much weakness in front of the other mutants. I’m very disappointed in you.” Cortex said harshly. “Now leave, _mutant_. I will think about your punishment later.” He said bitterly.

 

Crash lowered his head and slowly left the room. In his daze, Crash didn’t realize until he looked up to see he had walked back to his room. Opening the door, he walked across the room and flopped on his blue bed, staring at the ceiling emptily.

 

He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering off to what happened just now and his chest tightened. Did this really happen? How did things turned out like this? Just earlier today he was goofing around with his sister and friends!

 

The others.

 

Crash groaned and placed his hand over his eyes. Sooner or later he will have to face them and considering their reactions back at the arena, Crash wasn’t looking forward for that.

 

It was then Crash noticed the N symbol on the back of his hand and sat up. The sight of the mark made his stomach churn, now that he knew what it exactly meant. One of Cortex’s pawns, one of his weapons.

 

Grimacing slightly, Crash walked over to his drawer and searched inside it for a minute until he found what he was looking for. A pair of fingerless gloves. He wasted no time putting them on and couldn’t help admiring how they fit him perfectly.

 

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Crash nearly jumped out of his fur and his heart skipped a beat. W-Who could it be? Was it the others? Did doctor decide his punishment already?

 

“Crash?” Coco muttered and peeked through the door. Crash felt the tension leave his body and replaced with relief. She quickly came over to check on him. “Are you okay?” she asked in concern and Crash just looked down at the floor.

 

She frowned and quickly stepped closer to hug him.

 

Crash didn’t know what to say to her.

 

What was there to say?

 

He slowly wrapped his arms around her and hugged back. With her here, he felt a little better.

 

**\------**

Three days had passed since the incident at the arena.

 

Crash was walking down a corridor, trying hard to ignore all the whispers and glares he was getting from the other mutants. No matter how appealing it sounded, Crash couldn’t stay in his room forever. It was Brio who came and told to come to the training room in the next morning after the incident. He had been more solemn than usual with Crash and walked away without saying much to him.

 

Reluctantly, Crash had left his room. Once he came across the other mutants, things went exactly like he expected. Some would snicker and throw jabs at him while others would sneer and glare at him.  

 

But Crash was fine with those. He was alright with all the taunts and teasing. They were better than the disappointed looks some mutants gave him as if he had let them down back there. Crash couldn’t handle those.

 

_They had been counting on him and he failed them._

 

Despite all of this, Crash didn’t regret his choice at the arena. He still believed it hadn’t been right and he couldn’t imagine himself actually doing what the doctor had wanted him to do.

 

Passing down the corridor quietly, Crash suddenly heard someone talking around the corner.

 

“Hey, do you know where Dr. Cortex have gone? I haven’t seen him in a while?” Dingodile asked.

 

“I think he’s still working in his lab, been spending the last few days in there tinkering with something.” Pinstripe answered. “You know what I think? I think he’s probably too embarrassed to show his face around here. After all, it was his idea to make that idiot Crash the commander of this team.” He said with a chuckle.

 

Crash frowned dejectedly before walking away, feeling his eyes mist over.

 

**\------**

It was around nighttime.

 

Crash didn’t have the time to process what happened. He had been on his way to his bedroom for the night when a two pair of strong hands got a hold of him and carried him away. It took him a moment to realize it was Tiny.

 

“W-What’s going on!?” Crash muttered as he struggled to get away, but the tiger’s grip on him was too strong.

 

“H-Hey, what are you doing!?” Coco, who just came from the lab and was heading to her room as well, gasped and hurried over. “Let go of him!”

 

“Cortex wants Crash,” was all Tiny said as he continued heading down the hallway with Coco trying to catch up to them until they made it to the lab.

 

Cortex immediately smiled at the sight of them. “Good, place him on the chair.” He ordered and the tiger did as he was told, keeping the bandicoot from slipping away as the doctors strapped him to the chair.

 

“Hey, stop!” Coco exclaimed, but was held back by two of Cortex’s minions. “What are you doing to my brother!?”

 

Cortex smirked. “Let me introduce you to my one of my old inventions. The Vortex. I spent the last few days improving it,” He said gesturing to the large device looming above them. “Anyone who’s affected by it will obey my every command without hesitation.”

 

He then turned to Crash. “Which means you won’t disobey me ever again. You’ll be the perfect evil commander you were always supposed to be.”

 

“W-What, no!” Crash felt his blood run cold and struggled harder, but he remained stuck unable to escape. He gave a helpless look to his sister who looked beyond afraid.

 

“Now let’s begin,” Cortex said and turned to the control panel.

 

The machine hummed to life and dread filled the bandicoot. The chair began to rise and Crash was soon inside the machine.

 

And the world around him exploded into a blue light.

 

Crash screamed in pain as he felt the burning energy coursing through his body and his mind gone numb. He could hear the faint sounds of the doctors arguing and the cries of his sister over his own.

 

Suddenly, the machine stopped and Crash was lowered down, barely able to keep himself from passing out.

 

“What happened?” Cortex asked confused, flinching at the sparks shooting from the Vortex.

 

“I don’t know!” Brio answered as he stepped closer to undo the straps. “We’ll just have to try again-” he was cut off the by the sound of an alarm.

 

“W-What’s going!?” Cortex muttered at the words flashing in the screen.

 

Brio’s eyes widen once he saw the readings. “The machine has rejected Crash. It seems he’s somehow immune to its effects!”

 

“What!? How?” Cortex muttered in disbelieve only to be startled by the sound of feet hitting the floor. He turned to see Crash panting and scowling at them. “W-What are you waiting for? Capture him!” he shouted at his minions.

 

Crash growled and knocked away two men with a spin attack wincing immediately at the pain shooting in his limps. He looked up to see more minions coming. Tiny walked through them and snarled at the bandicoot.

 

He was outnumbered. There was no way he could fight all of them, especially in the state he was in.

 

“Crash, run!” Coco called out to him. Crash looked conflicted for a moment before he reluctantly turned and ran across the room.

 

“No, don’t let him get away!” Cortex shouted.

 

Crash caught a glimpse of a nearby window and without a second thought he closed his eyes and jumped right through it. He felt himself hit the glass briefly and then screamed as he fell through the air. The last thing he recalled was falling into the sea before his mind went blank and the waves carried him away.


	8. Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thank you for your continued support and feedback. Now that the Origins arc is over, we will continue from where we left off.

 

Crash’s eyes opened sluggishly. It took him a while to realize he was lying on sand, the sound of waves crashing somewhere nearby. He felt beyond tired and his head ached.

 

Just then, he heard footsteps approaching and voices talking over him, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. His body felt heavy and he couldn’t get up. One of the people then pocked his chest with a stick and he grunted, but otherwise stayed down. He then felt himself being lifted up and carried away.

 

Crash fought to stay awake, but in the end the soreness and fatigue were too much. His consciousness slowly slipped away.

 

The next time Crash woke up, he was found himself in a dark empty room. Blinking in confusion, Crash at first thought he was back in his new bedroom back in the small house and tried to sit up, but then realized something. He couldn’t move. Confused, he looked down to see his hands and legs were tied.

 

Panic slowly set in and the bandicoot felt his heart sink. Where was he? Why was he tied up like this? “Hello? Mr. Mask Guy?” he called out, but nobody answered him. Crash tried to remember what happened that got him in this place.

 

He recalled clearing the forest from monsters with Aku-Aku….fighting Ripper Roo…. getting hit by something-

 

Crash’s eyes widen. Did he get captured? Was he back in Cortex’s castle again? The thought terrified the bandicoot. No, he can’t stay here. He had to get out now! Without a second thought, he began squirming on the ground, hoping to escape the binds, but it was all to no avail.

 

Eventually, Crash stopped squirming and lay there, too exhausted to continue. This was getting him nowhere. He had to try something, but he just couldn’t think of anything that would get him out of these binds.

 

Crash didn’t know how long he lay on the ground until suddenly someone opened the door. Two humans entered the room and both of them carrying spears.

 

Crash gulped as one of them stood over him and knelt down to untie his legs. He then roughly lifted Crash up and shoved him forward. Staggering dizzily for a moment, he slowly made his way out of the room with the two humans pointing their spears at him from behind.

 

Crash gasped when he saw he wasn’t really back in Cortex’s castle, but inside a human village. It was nighttime and the only source of light was a huge fire in the center of the village. A large wooden wall surrounded the village and possibly blocked any chance for Crash to make a run for it.

 

The warrior behind Crash shouted something in a language he didn’t understand, but he continued walking forward assuming that’s what they wanted from him. They made their way to the fireplace where more humans were gathering.

 

But what caught Crash’s attention was the large man standing among them. He was taller than anybody else and was also holding a staff with a skull on top of it.

 

Crash was growing more uneasy with every passing second. The fact that everyone were glaring at him with hate and disgust wasn’t helping. They began conversing among themselves, but he understood none of it.

 

What’s going? What are they going to do with him?

 

The chief finally stepped forward scowling down at the bandicoot whose ears drooped in fright. “H-Hello,” Crash said, grinning nervously.

 

The chief glanced to the hunters and gave them a command. Crash felt his blood run cold as the hunters surrounded him from every direction with their sharp spears ready. Looking around frantically, he couldn’t find any opening to escape. Just when he thought he was done for, a bright flash of golden light startled everyone.

 

 _“Stop!”_ Aku-Aku exclaimed as he floated down in front of them, causing the humans to back away in awe.

 

“Mr. Mask Guy!” Crash muttered in relief. The mask just smiled back at him. It took him a while to locate the mutant and he was glad to have made it on time. He couldn’t imagine what he’ll do if he arrived late. He finally turned to the stunned humans.

 

 _“I-It’s the Great Aku-Aku!”_ one of them stammered in shock.

 

The mask looked between the humans and began speaking in their language. _“Villagers, I’m here to ask of you to release the bandicoot.”_ He said, looking over at Crash.

 

The humans gasped, staring at their protector in disbelieve. They began to murmur among themselves.

_“We cannot do that!”_

_“He will destroy our village!”_

_“He stole my boat too!”_ a short man shouted. Aku-Aku wanted to groan when he remembered the boat they took to the other island to fight Ripper Roo.

 

The chief of the tribe, Pabu-Pabu, stepped closer to the spirit mask. _“Great Aku-Aku, with all respect, but we cannot set this horrible creature free. If we do, he will come back to attack my people, just like what the other evil monsters did.”_

 

 _“Chief, you don’t understand. Crash is different. He’s nothing like the other mutants and isn’t a threat to anyone. I’ve seen it myself.”_ The mask reasoned.

 

The chief crossed his arms and looked at the mask solemnly. _“I am sure you have your reasons to trust this creature, but I don’t and neither do my people. And seeing what has become of our islands over the last few years, we won’t risk releasing another fiend to cause more harm.”_

 

It took all of his will power not flinch at that. He knew they didn’t meant it as an insult to him, but he still felt guilt consume his being. It was his job to protect the islands and everyone in it, but he never managed to drive away threats like Cortex and his minions even after years of trying.

 

The natives had tried to fight off Cortex’s armies when they attacked for a while, but they failed miserably every time. They then turned to their protector and trusted him to keep them safe, but now they were starting to have doubts about him as well.

 

Aku-Aku glanced at Crash who clearly looked scared of what the tribe was planning for him. “ _Listen, I understand you’re concerned, but Crash isn’t evil. Hasn’t hurt anyone since he got to the island. You have to believe me.”_

The humans glanced at each other, but none of them seem convinced by his words. The familiar feeling of despair and failure filled Aku-Aku once again as he gazed at his companion, lost on what to do.

 

 _“He is telling the truth,”_ someone suddenly said. Everyone turned to see a middle-aged man stepped out of the crowd with tan skin and a black beard.

 

Crash’s eyes widen in recognition. It couldn’t be…

 

 _“What are you saying?”_ the chief asked in confusion.

 

 _“When I was captured by the evil man’s minions and taken to their lair, the evil man commanded this creature to attack me, but for some reason….he didn’t. Even when the evil man was yelling at him, he still refused to hurt me.”_ He stated, staring at Crash with an unreadable look in his eyes. _“I didn’t understand why back then, but if what the Great Aku-Aku is saying is true then there is no need to be afraid of him.”_

 

The chief looked baffled along with the rest of the humans. He glanced between the bandicoot and the villagers before sighing in defeat. _“Alright, release the creature.”_

 

No one argued this time as the guards walked over and cut the ropes off Crash’s hand. The bandicoot grinned and walked over to Aku-Aku.

 

The two then turned to the chief who was looking down guiltily. _“Great Aku-Aku, I apologize for not listening to you. The evil man and his minions have been raiding our villages and hurting my people for a long time so I-”_

 

“ _It’s alright, I had my suspicions of Crash at first, but he proved me wrong too.”_ Aku-Aku said and the chief nodded.

 

The man from earlier then approached him, but Crash couldn’t understand what he was trying to tell him.

 

“He’s thanking you, Crash.” Aku-Aku said, smiling.

 

Crash blinked and then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before giving the human a nod. The man smiled and then walked away.

 

“Let’s leave now,” The two then turned around and began walking to the gate. Once they were out of the village, the mask sighed in relief.

 

“I’m glad to see you are okay, Crash. You had me worried that-” he was cut off by Crash suddenly grabbing him. “C-Crash, what are you…?” he trailed off when the bandicoot then pulled him into a hug. Aku-Aku blinked, taken aback by the gesture and unsure of what to do. He wasn’t used to things like this. 

 

They stayed like that for a few seconds before Crash let him go, smiling at his friend.

 

“W-Well, I should take you back to the beach now.” The mask stated awkwardly. He glanced over to see that it was too dark for them to see their way around. He quickly lit his body up, shining a light on the path ahead of them. “Follow me,”

 

Crash grinned and nodded before following him into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I will start drawing scenes from upcoming chapters every now and then. Here's the link for the drawing of this chapter on my Tumblr account. http://extremelight9.tumblr.com/image/162147572111


	9. Warning Signs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I had a blast writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Crash unlocked the door to the house and stepped inside beyond exhausted. It had been a really long day. From clearing the forest to fighting Ripper Roo to being caught by the natives. The bandicoot felt he could collapse at any second.

 

Letting out a loud yawn, he made his way to the bedroom and crashed on the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. It wasn’t long until his snores began to fill the room.

 

Aku-Aku smiled sympathetically at the mutant and then his expression became grim. He flew across the room and floated in front of the window, staring at the forest tiredly.

 

_“And seeing what has become of the island over the last few years, we won’t risk releasing another fiend to cause any more harm.”_

 

The chief’s words echoed in his mind and the mask sighed dejectedly. It’s true, things haven’t been looking up for islands since Cortex’s arrival. Day by day they destroyed more sections of the forests and threated all their inhabitants.

 

Aku-Aku had tried, had been for a very long time, but nothing he ever did managed to drive them away or even faze them for that matter. There were times where the mask wondered why keep trying when he was clearly fighting a battle he can never win. It was only a matter of time before the scientist’s armies would take over and he will fail everyone.

 

The sound of the snoring made the mask turn to see the bandicoot lying on his bed, scratching his belly. Aku-Aku’s eyes narrowed in thought.

 

With Crash’s help maybe he could change that. Things could be different. The bandicoot had proven many times just how capable and strong he was. He could turn the tide to their favor. With the right course of action, they might even be able to free the islands from Cortex’s hold!

 

Aku-Aku spent the rest of the night coming up with a plan.

 

**\--------**

“Crash, wake up!”

 

Crash grunted and slowly opened his eyes to see the mask floating over him. He sat up and rubbed the tiredness from his eyes.

 

“Come on, we have much to do today.” Aku-Aku muttered and floated out of the door. Crash raised an eyebrow and followed him to the living room.

 

“Here, I brought something to eat.” The mask hovered over the table where three Wumpa fruits were. Crash licked his lips and shoot him a grateful look before taking a seat.

 

“Now you’re probably aware of the problems the islands are facing because of Cortex and his minions so I’ve been thinking-”

 

He was interrupted by the sound of Crash suddenly taking a loud bite from his fruit, juice dripping from his lips as he watched him curiously.

 

The mask grimaced, but then cleared his “throat”. “As I was saying, last night I had an idea. There is a huge factory deep within the forest that’s poisoning the water in the river. If we could shut it down we will be doing many of the inhabitant of this island a huge favor. So what do you think?” he asked, but deep down he hoped that Crash would say yes.

 

The bandicoot scratched his head and then nodded with a grin making the mask sigh in relief. “Alright, let’s head out right now.”

 

With that, Aku-Aku quickly flew out of the door. Crash ran to follow him only to remember his breakfast and quickly went back to get the two Wumpa fruits before sprinting after his companion.

 

Aku-Aku led Crash through the forest for about half an hour. Crash munched on his fruit and licked the juice from his fingers as Aku-Aku explained more about the task. The two soon found the river. Upon a closer look, Crash realized that the water had a strange brown ting to it and smelled _awful_.

 

Crash glanced over at the mask for answers who sighed. “It has been like this for a while now, but don’t worry. If you succeed we will put a stop to this.” He said reassuringly and Crash raised an eyebrow at this.

 

“Why not you?” he asked with his hands on his hips.

 

Aku-Aku didn’t expect that question and froze up. He glanced at the ground, unable to meet his gaze. “I…I’m not really as powerful as I used to be, Crash. Ever since they started destroying the islands, I grew weaker and weaker. I can no longer put up a fight like I used to.” He explained, feeling shame burn within him. Admitting that he wasn’t the powerful guardian everyone expected him to still be stung.

 

Crash frowned and placed a hand on his backside, giving him a grin and thumbs-up.

 

The mask slowly smiled and they continued their trek.

 

Soon enough after following the river for a while, a familiar daunting structure came into view causing Crash to stop in his tracks at the sight of it. He knew this place. He had been here before when he got attacked by Aku-Aku on his first day on the island.

 

He gulped and felt uneasiness fill his stomach. Something about the place was just unsettling. The sound of loud machinery could be from heard from beyond the walls and smoke rose from the top of the factory. It looked pretty ominous.

 

“Crash, what’s wrong?” Aku-Aku asked.

 

Crash quickly shook his head and continued walking up ahead. He glanced over to see a huge pipe exerting smelly brown gunk into the river making the bandicoot gag in disgust.

 

“Follow me.” Aku-Aku flew over to the side of the building and Crash quickly ran after him, finding a door there. Crash opened the door and the two went inside. “Make sure to be careful. We don’t want to alert anyone that we are here.” Aku-Aku whispered.

 

Crash nodded and began sneaking through the corridors, keeping an eye out for any guards. The place was very warm and noisy. Crash slipped behind one human and hid behind a wall.

 

“What now?” Crash asked.

 

Aku-Aku grimaced. He had been hoping the bandicoot knew what to do from here. Being as ancient as he was, Aku-Aku had little understanding of technology or machinery in general. “I don’t know. Didn’t you live with Cortex before? I thought you would know how everything he made works!”

 

Crash glared at him.

 

Aku-Aku sighed aware that wasn’t being fair to his friend. “Sorry.” He said, looking around the area. “We need to find a way to stop the machines from working.”

 

Of course, the mask knew that Cortex could just send someone to fix the mess they’d make, but right now this was best he could come up with. After all, this was his idea and he should be the one to solve this dilemma.

 

The two peeked inside a room filled with huge pipes. It seemed that this is where the gunk passed before being disposed of into the river. The two also noticed one of Cortex’s human minions there observing everything and writing down on a notepad.

 

“Try to find a way to get him to leave.” The mask whispered. Crash gulped and quietly made his way to hide in the shadow. He then looked around for a minute before noticing a rusty screw on the floor. He carefully reached for it and flung away through the doorway, the sound of it hitting the floor caught the man’s attention.

 

The man put his notepad and pen down and went to check it out. Wasting no time, Crash rushed over to the pipe and quickly began turning knob the other way.

 

“Hurry, I think he’s coming back!” Aku-Aku said from behind him.

 

Crash grunted and finished turning it before running back to his hiding spot. The man returned and went back to writing on his notebook, luckily not noticing any of what they did.

 

Quietly, Crash slipped out of the room and then headed deeper into the factory. After a while, the two reached a huge room with a large machine in the center. It seemed to be generating some kind of energy.

 

Crash heard something move in the room, but payed it no mind. “I’ll keep an eye out while you deal with this one, alright?” Aku-Aku said and flew over to stand in the doorway.

 

Crash hurried across the room and stared at the turning gears in thought. He then noticed a tool box nearby and went to inspect it. He picked up a wrench thoughtfully and had an idea. Grinning, he began approaching the machine.

 

“Stop right there.”

 

Crash froze in his tracks and slowly turned around to see a familiar face.

 

“Never thought I would find ya here, mate.” Dingodile stated, pointing the end of his flamethrower at the bandicoot.

 

Crash gulped staring at the weapon nervously, his mind racing.

 

“You know, despite all the problems you’ve been causing us lately, for some reason the doctor still wants you back.” He said and Crash’s eyebrows shoot in surprise. “I know, right? What does he sees in you, I will never know.”

 

Crash frowned at him. “Coco?”

 

Dingodile chuckled. “Your sister? She’s fine in the castle, but there is no reason for you to ask because you’re gonna stop what you’re doing and come with me back to the castle right now.”

 

When Crash didn’t move, Dingodile scowled. “Why are you being so difficult? Haven’t you learned anything from the last time you disobeyed Cortex? If you continue what you’re doing you won’t like what’s gonna happen to you next-”

 

The mutant was cut off as Aku-Aku crashed into his head from behind, causing him to lose his balance. Crash saw his chance and knocked him away with a spin attack, sending him tumbling away. “Crash, now!”

 

Crash quickly ran over and after waiting for the right moment, he thrusted the wrench into the gears stopping them from moving. The gears began to shake and the bandicoot knew the noise coming from inside the machine wasn’t good. He hastily went back to Aku-Aku watching as smoke began to rise from it and alarms began blaring around them. Panicked cries could be heard outside the room.

 

“Now look at what you’ve done!” Dingodile growled as he stood up and glared at the bandicoot angrily. “I can’t believe I actually used to call you my pal!”

 

Crash froze and felt as if he had been punched in the gut as he watched the other mutant flee.

 

“Crash, we need to get out of here now!” Aku-Aku exclaimed, snapping him from his trance. Without a second thought, he ran out of the room.

 

He looked around frantically as he tried to find his way out of the building. All the noise and flashing red lights made it harder for him to think straight and stay calm.

 

It would have been easy for him to follow someone to the closest exist, but the corridors were all empty so everyone must have already escaped.

 

“That way!”

 

Crash followed Aku-Aku’s gaze to see a sign pointing to the direction of an exit. Filled with dread, he sprinted as fast as he could and soon reached the door. He tore it open and scrambled to get away. They only managed to get a few feet away before getting knocked away by the force of the blast, landing on the ground roughly.

 

Crash grunted as he sat up, his head and body aching. It took him a moment to realize his mask friend was missing. “M-Mr. Mask Guy?” he quickly stood up clutching his sore arm as he tried to find him. “Mr. Mask Guy!”

 

“Over here!”

 

Crash looked over to see the mask pull himself from the ground, shaking the dirt off himself. Crash slowly limped over to him. “And _please_ call me Aku-Aku.”

 

Crash just grinned teasingly at him, but deep down he was glad that he was okay. The two then looked over to see more explosions happening in the factory.

 

“We did it....” Aku-Aku said in disbelieve. “We did it, Crash!” He smiled and looked down at him, but the bandicoot was looking down at the ground silently. When Aku-Aku was about to ask him what was wrong, Crash looked up at him and gave him his usual grin.

 

Aku-Aku shook his head fondly and turned away. “Let’s go home.”

 

Crash walked after him and glanced back at the destroyed building, feeling his chest tighten.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I’m not sure how many chapters are left, but we’re nearing the climax of this fic.


	10. Fear and Solace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I had some free time yesterday, I decided to write a new chapter for this fic. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Back in the castle, Cortex was still trying to fix the Vortex. He backed away with a huff and whipped away the sweat from his forehead. Taking a swig from his bottle, he gazed at the machine thoughtfully.

 

He was almost done. He just needed a little more time and it will be ready. The doctor’s thoughts then drifted back to the incident a few days ago.

 

What went wrong back there? How did the bandicoot manage to escape unaffected by his machine? Would the same thing happen if he used it on Coco?

 

Groaning, the man slammed his bottle on the table and began massaging his temples. Maybe the problem wasn’t just with Crash, but with the machine as well. Maybe it wasn’t as strong as it should be.

 

Power. He needed more power.

 

Rubbing his chin in thought, the doctor left the lab with a plan brewing in his mind.

 

**\------**

 

Crash winced while making his way through the forest as his injuries began making themselves more known. He bit his lips and tried to keep going, but the pain in his limps wasn’t easy to ignore.

 

Aku-Aku began to notice his discomfort and frowned. “Are you okay, Crash?”

 

Crash nodded stubbornly and put more force in his steps to show that he was alright.

 

This turned out to be a bad idea as pain suddenly shoot up in his foot making him grimace. Crash finally stopped walking and used a tree to keep himself steady. He screwed his eyes shoot as his leg throbbed.

 

Aku-Aku watched the bandicoot in concern and tried to think of a way to help.

 

“Wait here, I’ll be right back.” The mask said and quickly left to look around. Maybe he could find someone and convince them to help the bandicoot out. It’s all he could do right now. Not wanting to leave his friend alone for too long, Aku-Aku flew through the tree hastily. The forest was filled with dangerous creatures and with the state he’s in, Crash won’t be able to defend himself.

 

Aku-Aku couldn’t help feeling guilty for that. Going to the factory was his idea in the first place and he wished he could have prevented this from happening somehow, but the mask knew dwelling on that won’t do either of them any good.

 

“Hello? I need help!” He called out, but no one answered. The village was also hours away from here so heading there wasn’t an option.

 

Sighing, he looked over and noticed a Wumpa tree not far from where he was. His face lit up. Of course! The special properties they have might help Crash get better.

 

Wasting no time, he flew over to some fallen fruit at the base of the tree and used his magic to make two of them float over to him.

 

 _Alright, these should be enough._ _I need to get back to Crash now._ He thought and turned to leave only to freeze up when he saw one of Cortex’s drones coming towards him. The evil doctor suddenly appeared on the screen, grinning smugly at him.

 

“Hello, Aku-Aku. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

 

Aku-Aku scowled. He didn’t have time for this. “What do you want, Dr. Cortex?”

 

“Oh nothing! Just wanted to let you know that I’m not pleased with what you did to my factory.” Cortex replied sarcastically, glaring at him. “And I would also like to have my mutant bandicoot back. I know you’re keeping him on this island.”

 

Aku-Aku glared back. “Well, you’re going to be very disappointed. I won’t let you take Crash away.”

 

Cortex rubbed his chin in amusement. “You seemed to be quite comfortable with one of my creations wandering around in your islands.”

 

“Crash is nothing like the other mutants. He isn’t a threat to anyone here.” He replied.

 

Cortex smirked. “Is that so? Well, allow to tell you a secret. Did you know that Crash was supposed to be the commander of my mutant army? He was created to help me take over the world and destroy anyone who gets in his way.”

 

Aku-Aku wasn’t fazed by this. “Well, he isn’t doing any of those thing. I guess you’re not as good of a scientist as you think you are.”

 

Cortex scowled angrily at this, but then his calm smile returned. “It’s only because he finds you interesting.”

 

“What?” Aku-Aku asked confused.

 

“You see, Crash had been living in my castle ever since he was created. He had kept asking me over and over to let him go see the islands, but I’ve never did because I thought he wasn’t ready to go on a mission to the islands yet. I guess his wish finally came true.” Cortex stated.

 

Aku-Aku huffed. “What are you getting at?” he pressed on and Cortex smirked.

 

“Tell me, what do you think will happen once he gets bored of you?”

 

Aku-Aku stiffened and his eyes widen.

 

“After all, who would break a toy they still want to play with? It’s only a matter of time before Crash gets tired of everything here and starts destroying-”

 

“No!” Aku-Aku shouted. “Crash would never do that!”

 

Cortex looked annoyed now. “Oh please, stop acting as if you know that much about Crash. You’ve only known him for like what? Three days? I’m the one who created him so don’t you think I would understand him better than you do?”

 

“But….”

 

“Have you even thought of how ridiculous this all seems? Why would I create something that doesn’t want to destroy? It’s just absurd!” the man said with a wave of his hand.

 

Aku-Aku wanted to say he was wrong, wanted to deny everything this man was saying, but nothing would come out of his mouth.

 

“Anyway, I have other things to attend to so I’ll be leaving you now. Farewell!” The scientist said cheerfully and the drone flew away, leaving the mask alone with his thoughts.

 

Aku-Aku’s mind was racing. This had to be a trick, a lie. Cortex was trying to mess him. He had to be. Crash wasn’t- _isn’t_ a killing machine. There was no way any of what Cortex said was true and yet….why did he feel so tense right now?

 

Remembering that he had to get the Wumpa fruit to the mutant, Aku-Aku flew back to where he left Crash only to stop behind some trees. The bandicoot was sitting under the tree looking rather bored while waiting for him.

 

_“After all, who would break a toy they still want to play with?”_

 

 _Stop it, you’re being ridiculous!_ Swallowing back his uneasiness, Aku-Aku smiled and hesitantly flew over to him. Crash grinned when he saw him coming.

 

“Here, Crash.” Aku-Aku said dropping the fruit in front of Crash. “These should help.” The mutant nodded gratefully and began munching on them. He then noticed Aku-Aku looking at him strangely and tilted his head in confusion.

 

“What?”

 

“Oh, nothing. Don’t worry!” he said nervously, but Crash wasn’t convinced. Still, he finished eating and tried to stand up, relieved when his injuries didn’t hurt as much as they did before. There was still pain, but it didn’t make walking hard for him.

 

Crash gave his friend a thumbs-up before heading back on the forest path with Aku-Aku slowly trailing behind him.

 

**\-------**

 

Aku-Aku had no idea what to do. He couldn’t calm himself down no matter what he did. He tried to ignore the doubts in his mind, shrug it off as nothing, but a trick by the doctor to scare him. He told himself that over and over hoping to convince himself.

 

But that was the problem.

 

Aku-Aku didn’t believe himself. He couldn’t deny all the implications presented before him no matter how much he wanted to.

 

As much as he hated it, there was some truth behind the doctor’s words, questions he had stopped asking himself.

 

Why would one of Cortex’s creations rebel against him like this? Why was this mutant helping him save the island even when everyone else here seemed to be against him? It made no sense!

 

_“It’s only because he finds you interesting.”_

 

Aku-Aku grimaced and tried to push that voice away. No, it’s not true. Cortex was lying. Crash wouldn’t hurt them!

 

The two finally made it back to the beach and went inside the house. Aku-Aku sighed as he looked around the living room tiredly. He then noticed Crash enter his bedroom and decided to follow him. Once he was there, he found him searching under the bed.

 

“What are you looking for, Crash?” Aku-Aku asked with a raised eyebrow. Crash grunted and pulled out a first aid kid from there. “Oh, right.”

 

Crash sat on the ground and began treating his wounds carefully. He winced slightly in pain when he wrapped his arm with bandages. He suddenly looked up at Aku-Aku and frowned for a moment before motioning for him to come closer.

 

“What is it?” The mask went over and floated in front of him. Crash took a band aid out of the box and without a warning, he placed it on the huge crack on Aku-Aku’s face.

 

“C-Crash, what are you doing!?”Aku-Aku stammered, taken aback by this. From the look he was giving him, the mask already had an idea why and he had to protest. “I’m just a mask, Crash. You need this more than I do!”

 

“I just don’t like seeing you hurt like that,” Crash said, gesturing at the dents and cracks on the mask’s wooden face.

 

Aku-Aku’s stern expression fell and he stared at him in stunned silence, not knowing what to do or say.

 

He suddenly felt very guilty and foolish for having doubted him earlier. A small smile slowly made its way across his face.

 

“Thank you,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I’m not sure, but I think there are only two or three chapters left. Anyway, here is another drawing I made.  
> http://extremelight9.tumblr.com/image/162971686131


	11. Falling Apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Man, this chapter was tough to write. It took even longer than the previous ones did. Still, I hope you all enjoy it.
> 
> Heads up, the angst and feels are back guys.

Crash woke up with a loud gasp, his heart hammering against his chest. He saw he was lying outside the house, but Aku-Aku was nowhere to be seen.

 

Crash then remembered. Before he decided to take a nap, Aku-Aku told him he would go check on the human villages and won’t be back for a while. Sighing, he laid down on his back and stared at the sky in thought.

 

He just had another nightmare about the castle and it was just as unpleasant. This one was about his sister. She was being taken into Cortex’s lab the same way they did to him and she was screaming for help.

 

It was unsettling and the fact that he had no way to assure himself that it could never happen wasn’t helping either. He didn’t know if she was okay right now and his chest grew heavy with worry about her.

 

As much as he wanted to head there to save her right now, Crash didn’t know how to get back to the castle and even if he did, what chance did he have against the other mutants? He could barely take on one at a time, let alone a bunch of them at once!

 

Not to mention that Aku-Aku had told him that he wasn’t as strong as he used to be so he wouldn’t be able to help him much during a fight if it came to it.

 

Sighing, he stood up and stared at the distant castle in the sea wistfully before turning around to head inside the house. Looking for a distraction, Crash began rummaging through the old bedroom. He already checked the books on the bookshelf, but they all had too many words in them and not enough pictures to entertain him.

 

Searching through the drawers, he raised an eyebrow when found a red round object inside one of them. He took it out and brought it closer to his face, inspecting it carefully.

 

It took a moment before it clicked in his head. It was a yo-yo! He remembered seeing one in a magazine in the castle. A huge grin slip his face as he held it in his hand. Almost shaking with anticipation, he began playing with it only to be hit in the face by it after a while.

 

“Oww!” Crash groaned and rubbed his nose glaring down at the toy in confusion. What happened? He had done exactly like he had seen in the pictures. He tried again and while it didn’t hit him again, it remained dangling from his finger. Crash scratched his head unsure of what he was doing wrong.

 

Suddenly, Aku-Aku entered the room looking panicked. “Crash, hurry! A village is being attacked!”

 

The bandicoot’s eyes widen and he quickly dropped the yo-yo on the nightstand before sprinting out of the house with the mask. He ran through the forest as fast as he could, following the directions that his friend was giving him.

 

**XXXXXXXXX**

 

“That’s right, run away!” Moe said as he threw his sword at the wall of a house, causing the humans to scream and run in fear. He walked over and pulled it out, pleased with sight of the humans fleeing. “Feels great to back here, eh Joe?”

 

His brother nodded. “Yeah, I was starting to get really tired of spending every of hour of my day in that castle.” He then turned to see three humans pointing at him with their spears shakily and it made him smirk. He unsheathed his sword and with a single slash, he cut off the head of a spear.

 

The humans cried out and ran away, but one of them tripped in his panic and fell into the ground face-first. Grinning widely, Joe stepped closer and raised his sword ready to strike, but a wooden bowl suddenly came flying and hit him in the head, knocking him out.

 

“Hey! Who did that!?” Moe growled and turned to see Crash and Aku-Aku. “Oh look, it’s the traitor. Never thought we’ll find you here.” Moe stated, scowling at the bandicoot.

 

Crash glared back at him. “Leave,”

 

Moe chuckled. “After what you just did to my brother? Forget it!” Without hesitation, the mutant dashed towards Crash and swung his sword.

 

Crash barely had the time to roll out of the way of the attack and quickly stood up. Moe growled and continued slashing at the bandicoot.

 

Crash yelped and tried to keep as much distance as possible from the sharp blade, his mind racing for a way to stop his attacks, but the other mutant wouldn’t slow down.

 

“Crash, behind you!” Aku-Aku called out just as Crash took another step back only to find himself pressed against a totem pole.

 

He cried out as Moe swung his sword at him and quickly ducked, the blade hitting the pole instead.

 

“Huh?” Moe tried pulling his sword out, but it remained stuck there. Wasting no time, Crash punched the komodo mutant in the jaw before finishing the fight with a spin attack sending him tumbling near his brother.

 

Crash immediately dropped to the ground as the adrenaline finally wore off and he found himself panting for breath.

 

“Crash, are you harmed?” Aku-Aku flew down and asked.

 

“I’m fine,” Crash nodded breathlessly, unable to believe he survived that without being sliced to pieces.

 

Aku-Aku sighed in relief and smiled. “Thank you, Crash. You saved everyone in this village,” he said proudly and Crash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

 

“Unbelievable,” Someone suddenly said and the two looked over to see none other than Dr. Cortex coming their way. Crash gasped and quickly pulled himself up. This was his first encounter with the man ever since the Vortex incident and couldn’t help the spike of fear he felt at seeing him again.  

 

“Despite everything, you somehow keep managing to beat my mutants.” He said looking at the Komodo Brothers in dismay. “And yet you waste all your skills with these people.” He said bitterly glaring at Crash. “Why can’t you understand what I’m offering you, you absolute idiot!”

 

Aku-Aku immediately flew in front of Crash and glared back at the man. “He’s better off here than working for you!”

 

“You just say that so he would stay with you and do what you want him to.” Cortex replied sharply.

 

Aku-Aku blinked in surprise at this. “What are you talking about?” he demanded.

 

Cortex scoffed. “Oh please, my mutants have been attacking these islands for years. You expect me to believe you’d trust everyone’s safety with one of the creatures who could do things like this?” Cortex said, gesturing to the destruction around them.

 

 _Not this again!_ Aku-Aku knew where he was going with this and wouldn’t fall for it again. “Stop trying to fool me, Cortex. Crash have proven many times that he can be trusted and I’m not going to doubt that!” he said. Crash crossed his arms and sent Cortex a smug grin.

 

Cortex rubbed his chin. “You say that, but I recall otherwise.”

 

“What?” Crash flattered and looked at him confused.

 

“Don’t listen to him, Crash. He’s trying to trick you!” Aku-Aku exclaimed.

 

“Oh really? Because back when I found you collecting Wumpa fruit the other day, I said that Crash would eventually turn against you and start wreaking havoc like my other creations. You didn’t seem to think I’m wrong. In fact,” the man smirked. “you seemed quite frightened too. I’m sure even Crash noticed you acted weird around him for a while.”

 

Crash’s eyes widened and turned to the mask who had gone stiff.

 

“What? Aren’t you going to deny it?” Cortex asked, seeming to enjoy what he was doing.

 

Both were watching him expectantly and Aku-Aku stammered in panic. “T-that’s not…I didn’t think…I…” He couldn’t form words, his mind a chaotic mess. He wanted nothing more than to disappear from this place right then and there.

 

He could feel Crash’s worried gaze on him, waiting desperately for him to tell him the man was just lying again and none of this was true, but Aku-Aku couldn’t think of anything to tell him.

 

None of that had been a lie.

 

Cortex grinned in triumph at his silence. “See, Crash? He can’t even defend himself. I told you back in my office that it doesn’t matter on whose side you are. People will always see you as a means to an end and make you fight for them because that’s _all_ you really are.”

 

Aku-Aku gasped and turned to Crash to tell him that wasn’t true, but he immediately clamped up once he saw his face.

 

Crash looked as if his entire world had fallen apart. His ears drooping and his shoulders shaking, his expression beyond hurt and betrayed.

 

“Crash….I-” Aku-Aku moved closer to him, but Crash took a step back shaking his head as if telling him not to come any closer. Before the mask could say anything, the bandicoot turned around and quickly ran away to the village gate.

 

“Crash, wait!” Aku-Aku cried out, but the mutant had already disappeared into the trees. Aku-Aku stayed there stunned for a moment before glaring at the man. “You monster! How could you say that to him!?” he yelled, having never felt this angry since his twin’s betrayal.

 

“Well, I had to stop you two from ruining my hard work somehow.” Cortex shrugged as if it’s no big deal. Aku-Aku sent him a withering glare, his eyes flashing brightly. “Hey now, don’t pin all the blame on me. After all, I wouldn’t have succeeded without you.” He said with a smile.

 

The bright light in the mask’s eyes vanished and his angry expression crumbled. Cortex smirked and walked away from him.

 

**XXXXXXX**

 

Crash was running blindly through the trees, pushing away branches and getting hit by some in his sprint, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to be alone.

 

Once he finally got far enough from the village, he stopped in a small clearing and hid behind a tree. His heart was violently pounding in his chest and his shoulders wouldn’t stop shaking. Crash sat against the tree and curled up, face downcast.

 

It happened again. Crash couldn’t believe he had been tricked again.

 

He thought Cortex and other mutants were his friends, but they wanted him to hurt people. He thought the same with Aku-Aku, but the mask never truly trusted him despite everything they did together. He was the one who gave him a house when he had nowhere to go, who brought him food, who saved his life two days ago!

 

Crash could feel his eyes watering and he curled up even tighter.

 

_A means to an end._

 

His hands turned into fists and he screwed his wet eyes shut. That’s what Cortex called him and he hated that. He was tired of being tricked, tired of being used!

 

Crash’s blurry gaze trailed around and he realized he had no idea where to go from here. Who could he turn to now? He felt as if he was back to the day when he woke up alone on the beach for the first time.

 

“Crash?”

 

Crash’s eyes snapped open and he looked up to see Aku-Aku staring down at him with worry. Crash quickly whipped away his tears and scowled at him. “Go away!”

 

The mask flinched. “Crash, I’m sorry-” He said, but Crash pulled himself up and began to walk away. “I was never using you. Please listen to me!”

 

“No!” Crash stopped and pressed his hands over his ears, wanting to block him out. No more excuses, no more lies. He wasn’t going to let himself be tricked again! “Just leave me alone,” he said and his caustic tone stung.

 

“Crash….” Aku-Aku’s face fell and looked down at the ground, feeling terrible. Crash doesn’t want to talk to him and he was to blame for this. He had been a fool. If he had never fallen for Cortex’s lies then none of this would have happened and Crash wouldn’t be this upset with him right now.

 

He suddenly noticed him walking away to another direction and frowned. “Where are you going?”

 

“The castle,” Crash said without stopping.

 

It took him a moment to realize what he was referring to and his eyes widen in horror. “You mean Cortex’s castle!? Why would you go there?”

 

Why on earth would he go back to the place where the evil scientist lives?

 

“Save Coco.” Crash muttered. He was done running away, done hiding from Cortex. He didn’t care what the man will do. He was going to find his sister and rescue her!

 

Aku-Aku blinked in surprise. So Crash had someone there that he wanted to save? From the way he said it, they seemed to be important to him. Still, Cortex’s castle was a dangerous place and he couldn’t let him go there alone. “I’ll go with you then,”

 

Crash turned and shook his head firmly. “No.”

 

“Crash, please. I know you’re mad at me right now and…you may be right to do so, but please let me help you.” When Crash didn’t look convinced, he sighed. “You’ve done so much for the islands since you’ve came here, more than I can thank you for. Helping you is the least I could do after everything you did. And when this is all over, I…I’ll leave you alone and I won’t bother you again….I promise,” he hesitantly said.

 

Crash seemed think about this for a while before sighing and motioning for him to come along.

 

“T-Thank you,” Aku-Aku said relieved and hurried after him.

 

When they made it back to the beach, they tried to think of a way to get to the castle. “I could talk to the villagers and asked them if they could let us use one of their boats,” Aku-Aku suggested.

 

While Crash stayed on the beach, the mask went to the human village. When he explained their situation to the natives, they were happy to let them borrow a boat and two of them carried it to the beach.

 

Crash and Aku-Aku then got onto the boat and began heading towards the distant castle. Crash couldn’t help finding it odd how he spent so much time wishing to leave that place and see the outside world. Now he was willingly heading back there.

 

He then noticed some dark clouds in the distance and tried rowing faster. If a storm was coming, he didn’t want to get caught in it.

 

By the time they made it to the island where the castle was, the sky had darkened with clouds.

 

Crash couldn’t help feeling apprehensive as he stood in front of the ominous building, fearing of what might be waiting him in there, but he tried shaking it off. Now was not the time to be afraid. His sister was somewhere up there and she needed him.

 

When he noticed the mask gazing at him, he quickly looked away and steeled his nerves before walking towards the entrance.

 

**XXXXXXXX**

 

Aku-Aku turned from staring at the dark building to Crash. He looked really nervous, he noted, brows furrowed and an uncertain look on his face. He tried smiling at him hoping to put him at ease, but Crash immediately broke eye contact with him.

 

He sighed and felt the same feeling of guilt and regret fill him again. He spent years blaming mutants for ruining the lives of everyone on the island and all the misery they caused for them. Now that resentment and distrust had cost him a friend.  

 

A week ago he would have scoffed at the idea of calling a mutant his friend, let alone be in the same room with one. It’s funny how quickly that changed.

 

But none of that mattered right now.

 

Even if Crash wanted nothing to do with him anymore, even if this was the last time they will go anywhere together, he’ll do everything he can to make sure Crash makes out of here safe.

 

Without hesitation, he followed the bandicoot to the castle entrance just as the first droplets of rain began to fall. Crash slowly opened the huge door and the two of them quietly slipped inside.

 

Aku-Aku gazed at the interior around him in awe. He often wondered what was the place Cortex lived in was like, but he hadn’t expected _this!_

 

Crash stepped forward and his uneasiness grew with every second, but he swallowed back his fear and began heading up the stairs, the two of them keeping an eye out at all time.

 

Aku-Aku began to wonder why the doctor needed such a huge place to live in when not many people seemed to be living here. A lot of the corridors looked exactly the same and he was baffled at the idea of anyone being able to find their way around in this maze of a castle without getting lost for hours.

 

Luckily, Crash seemed to know where each path led and they hid whenever they heard someone coming their way. The mask refrained from asking him how he knew this many hiding places in this castle.

 

After wandering through the hallways for several minutes, Crash stopped and looked around a corner to see an elevator, but there was a problem.

 

Dingodile and Koala Kong were chatting near it. Crash gulped and tried to think of a way to get those two to leave.

 

“Hold on,” Aku-Aku narrowed his eyes at a nearby vase and made it float with his magic before flinging it to the far corner of the room, the sound of it crashing startled the two mutants.

 

“What the- What just happened!?” Koala Kong asked as they approached the broken pieces of the vase wearily.

 

“I don’t know, mate.” Dingodile answered, scratching his head in confusion.

 

As quietly as he could, Crash slipped past the two into the elevator with Aku-Aku and quickly pressed the button. Once it began moving, Crash sighed in relief feeling as if he could melt into the floor.

 

They were nearly there. Just a little more.

 

**XXXXXX**

 

Coco was watching the storm raging outside, her eyes fixed on the raindrops falling against her window in boredom.

 

She glanced over at the table where a tray filled with food lay untouched. She sighed and pulled away from the window, sitting on her bed with a huff. She didn’t feel like eating right now. She couldn’t be when she knew The Vortex was getting closer and closer to being fixed.

 

A knot of dread and anxiety formed in Coco’s stomach. She was running out of time. She had thought if she waited maybe the solution will present itself to her or maybe she will be able to think of an escape plan, but all those hours she spent thinking and planning had been fruitless.

 

There was no way for her to break the door and she already scratched out the idea of using the window to escape. All her attempts to persuade the other mutants who delivered her food to let her out of the room for a little while had failed too.

 

Coco buried her hands in her face and let out a choked sob, not knowing what to do anymore.

 

Suddenly, someone began to unlock her door and she sighed. That was probably Koala Kong here to take her supposedly empty tray, not that she cared anyway. There was a moment of silence when the door opened before someone finally spoke up.

 

“Coco?”

 

The girl’s eyes widen at the familiar voice. _It can’t be._ She slowly looked over to see her brother standing in the door!

 

“Crash!” Without a second thought, she scrambled over and jumped into his embrace, feeling her eyes mist over in relief. “Y-You’re here!” Crash hugged her back and gave her his usual huge grin, the one she missed so much.

 

Aku-Aku watched the two siblings with a smile, glad they managed to find her in time. It was then she seem to notice him and she looked baffled, not that he would blame her. He was a talking mask after all.

 

“Crash, who is this?” she asked.

 

“Aku-Aku,” Crash answered without looking at him.

 

The mask blinked once he realized Crash had just called him by his real name. Not “Mr. Mask Guy”, the name Crash knew he hated, but continued using anyway to tease and get a rise out of him.

 

He tried to hide the pain he felt and smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you, Coco.” 

 

“You too,” Coco said smiling and seemed intrigued by his appearances. “You came from the islands, right?” she asked with unconcealed curiosity. He could clearly tell she haven’t been outside this castle before much like Crash.

 

“Yes, I am,” he nodded.

 

“Let’s go,” Crash said, taking her hand and pointing out of the door urgently. Coco nodded as she let him lead her out of the room. Wasting no time, they hurried down the hallway.

 

“And just where do you three think you’re going?”

 

They froze up and turned to see Cortex with Pinstripe pointing his gun at them at the other end of the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This could be the longest chapter I wrote so far. Crash and Aku-Aku having this falling out was really painful for me to write. though.


	12. I'm Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, we finally reached the final chapter of this story and the longest one. It took me a lot of time to finish it too. Anyway, thanks for all the positive feedback you gave me. I really appreciate all your support.
> 
> Enjoy the final chapter of Something About You!

Crash’s eyes widened in panic as the end of Pinstripe’s riffle was pointed directly at them. Before he could react, Pinstripe pulled the trigger and fired.

 

Immediately, Aku-Aku threw himself on Crash’s face and a bright light surrounded him causing the bullets to hit his chest and bounced off harmlessly. The sound of drums playing loudly filled the hallway, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

 

“What the-” Pinstripe gaped and tried shooting at him again only for the bullets to be deflected once more. The glowing bandicoot then grabbed Coco by the hand and dashed towards the two, knocking them away as if they were nothing and disappeared around the corner. Groaning, Pinstripe sat up only to be hit on the head by Cortex. “Hey, what was that for!?”

 

“You fool! What were you thinking!? I didn’t order you to shoot them!” Cortex growled angrily.

 

“But-”

 

“I need them both alive. Now come on, we can’t let them leave the castle.” The scientist turned away and took out his communicator.

 

**\------**

“S-Slow down!” Coco cried out as she tried to keep up with her brother’s speed as he ran through the hallways without stopping.

 

Once they got far enough, Aku-Aku finally removed himself from Crash’s face who fell to his knees in exhaustion. “Crash, are you okay?” When her brother nodded, she turned to the mask in confusion. “What _was_ that?”

“I shared some of my power with Crash,” He said and winced slightly. “But it takes a lot out of me so I don’t think I will be able to do it if we were in danger again.” He explained and Coco suddenly noticed a small crack on his forehead that she _knew_ wasn’t there earlier.

 

“Okay,” She replied and helped her brother up. “We should hurry before they catch up to us!”

 

Without a second thought, the two bandicoots sprinted through the corridors as fast as they could. Having lived and spent all their time in these hallways had helped them find their way with ease.

 

“Hurry, we’re almost there!” Aku-Aku called out once he began to recognize some of the furniture and paintings they passed by before. Crash couldn’t stop the excited grin that split his face.

 

They were almost there. Just a little more and they will be free. Sure, the storm and the waves might cause them a problem when they head back to the islands, but it was better than sticking around here any longer.

 

They two siblings hurried down the final staircase eagerly and then froze up when they reached the bottom of it.

 

Tiny and Koala Kong were standing up ahead, blocking their way to the exit door. Panic filled Crash’s heart as he stood protectively in front of his sister.

 

“What? Thought you could escape that easily?” Koala Kong smirked.

 

Crash gritted his teeth at them. They didn’t have time for this. They were _so close!_ He racked his head as he tried to think of a way out of this. The odds of them winning a fight against these two strong mutants were slim at best. He glanced at his sister and he knew she thought the same.

 

“Let us through!” Aku-Aku muttered firmly and the two laughed.

 

“Not a chance, buddy,” Koala Kong replied, pounding his fist together. “You three aren’t going anywhere.”

 

“Tiny crush bandicoots!” Tiny exclaimed and jumped into the air. The three gasped and quickly moved out of the way before they got crushed by the weight of the large mutant.

 

Crash barely had the time to recover as Tiny began attacking him. The bandicoot’s mind raced as he tried come up with a way to take down the tiger who was trying to stick his sharp claws into him.

 

Steeling himself, he quickly slid under Tiny and hit him with a spin attack from behind sending him crashing into a wall face-first. He then looked over to see Coco trying to escape Koala Kong’s swipes.

 

“Ow!” The blue mutant cried out when Coco kicked him in the nose. Rubbing the sore area with his hand, he growled angrily. “You little brat!” He reached out and grabbed the girl with both his hands.

 

“Let go of me!” Coco muttered, but the mutant only tightened his grip making her gasp in pain.

 

“No!” Crash exclaimed and scrambled to help his sister. A beam suddenly struck Crash from behind and the bandicoot fell limp on the floor.

 

“Huh?” Crash tried to stand up, but his arms and legs wouldn’t move. He heard Aku-Aku gasp from somewhere and the sound of something wooden falling into the ground.

 

“Well done, boys.” Cortex said walking over to them with his gun in hand. Crash looked up to see the doctor smirking over him. “Now carry them to the lab.”

 

Crash felt his blood run cold at this, knowing what was waiting for him in there. No, he didn’t want to go back, not again! He screwed his eyes shut and struggled to get his body to move again, to fight against the numbness in his limps, but he remained paralyzed on the cold floor.

 

Tiny picked up Crash and Aku-Aku before following Koala Kong and the doctor.

 

**\------**

 

Soon enough, Crash found himself surrounded by familiar dark walls, flashing machines and cages. All the other mutants were present in the room as Cortex stood proudly before them.

 

And right behind him was the Vortex, fixed and ready. Crash could feel his heart hammering in his chest, a mess of fear and anxiety festering in his stomach. _No, no. This can’t be happening!_

 

“Oh Crash, you thought you could escape my castle again yet here you are right back in our clutches.” The scientist smirked and walked over towards Crash who was being held by Tiny.

 

“Stay away from him, Cortex!” Coco yelled. “Why won’t you just leave us alone?”

 

Why did this man want to keep them here with him so badly?

 

Cortex sent her an amused look. “Why? That’s simple. It’s because you two have proven yourselves to be very skilled, especially your brother. He managed to defeat and outwit all the mutants he faced on the islands. With you two on my side, my mutant army will be complete.” He then turned to crash.

 

“Which is why despite all the damage and problems you’ve caused me over the last few days, I decided not to dispose of you. In fact, I’ll offer you the chance to join my army once more, Crash.” he said, gesturing to him. “What do you say?”

 

Crash didn’t even think about it. Despite not being able to move his body, he quickly leaned forward and bit the man’s hand causing him to cry out in pain.

 

“Ah, let me go!” Cortex exclaimed and freed his throbbing hand from the bandicoot’s teeth.

 

“Sir, are you alright?” Brio asked.

 

A few mutants snickered from behind them and Cortex immediately silenced them with a glare so harsh it made them all stiffen. They have never see the scientist this angry before.

 

Cortex then turned to Crash and marched towards him. “ _You imbecile!_ What is wrong with you!? Why won’t you listen!?” he snarled. “I offered so much, I gave you so many chances, but no more.”

 

His face darkened. “You’re going to learn your place one way or another, _mutant_.”

 

There was that tone again, the one Cortex used with him when he scolded him in his office after the arena incident. Crash flinched and his ears fell at the way Cortex used that term.

 

The scientist then turned to his assistant. “Brio, activate the Vortex! He’s going to be the first to try it!”

 

The other man scrambled to the control panel and began pressing them frantically. “B-But sir, the Vortex didn’t work on Crash before. What if it fails again?” he asked nervously.

 

“Oh, I have just the thing to fix that.” With an unnerving smile, Cortex walked to a nearby table and opened a case, taking out a bright pink crystal from inside it. Everyone in the room found themselves mesmerized by its glow.

 

“Sir….is that….?” Brio murmured in disbelieve.

 

Cortex smirked proudly. “A Power Crystal. I came across it when I was searching the forest two days ago. It would be the perfect energy source for the machine.” He said as he placed it in the other man’s shaky hands.

 

Brio nodded and quickly placed it inside a glass container.

 

“The Power Crystal should make the Vortex three times stronger than it used to be! The idiot won’t be able to resist its effects this time!” Cortex stated with a grin.

 

Brio gulped and glanced at the doctor anxiously. “S-Sir, the energy levels in the machine are too high. If we put the bandicoot in there then there is a huge chance that he might-”

 

“Just do your job, Brio. I want that mutant under my control _now_.” Cortex snapped. “Pinstripe, go help Tiny and strap him to the table.”

 

“With pleasure,” Pinstripe grinned while Crash felt the blood drain from his face.

 

“Cortex, stop! Don’t do this!” Coco shouted, struggling in Koala Kong’s hands, but she could only watch helplessly as her brother was carried over towards that horrible machine again.

 

Tiny placed the limp bandicoot on the table and walked away leaving Pinstripe to strap him up. “Feeling comfortable, _Commander_ _Crash_?” he said mockingly, but there was also bitterness in his voice.

 

At Crash’s confused stare, he huffed. “I trained and dedicated so much of my time to be the best mutant in this castle. Cortex even made me his personal bodyguard. The position of the commander should have been given to me!” His expression then soured. “But instead he chose _you_ and even after all the trouble you caused, he still wants you to have it!”

 

Crash winced as he tied the last strap with a little more force than necessary. Pinstripe’s anger soon melted way and he smiled down at Crash. “However, if what Brio was trying to say is true then my position as the commander of Cortex’s army is already secured.”

 

Crash’s eyes widen and his breathing hitched, watching Pinstripe walk with a smirk on his face. He then noticed Dingodile standing not far from him.

 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, mate. You should have stopped when you had the chance,” was all he said before walking away from him too.

 

Crash lay there in stunned silence before looking up at the machine looming over him dreadfully, his first experience with it playing in his mind.

 

“Dr. Cortex, are you sure about this?” Brio asked uneasy.

 

“Yes, now pull the lever!” Cortex said without hesitation. Brio nodded slowly and went over to pull it.

 

Crash was lifted up into the glowing machine once again. Blinding light then exploded around him and he screamed at the top of his lungs.

 

 _Everything hurts_ ….

 

He screwed his eyes shut as a pain he never felt before coursed through him. His body felt as if it was on fire!

 

“Please turn it off! You’re hurting him!” Coco screamed over the noise, tears streaming down her face, but Cortex and others ignored her.

 

“Finally, I’ll have the perfect mutant commander at last!” Cortex said, his grin growing wider as the light from the machine filled the dark room. The scientist then noticed something odd at the corner of his eye.

 

The light of Power Crystal within the container seemed to be slowly fading with every second. He hurried over and stared at the crystal in confusion.

 

What’s happening? Why was it-

 

“Dr. Cortex!” Brio cried out, sounding panicked.

 

Cortex turned just in time to see violent energy pulsing from within the machine before it exploded, the force of the blast knocking everyone back.

 

Cortex groaned, rubbing his sore head. He looked around to see his mutants lying on the floor dazed or pulling themselves up. His gaze then found the Vortex or what’s left of it. Piles of burnt metal were scattered all over the room.

 

Cortex’s eyes widen and his jaw dropped. His machine was destroyed probably beyond repair! All that hard work gone for nothing!

 

Just then, all thoughts about the Vortex or anything else were banished from his mind when he saw the dark figure of Crash slowly pulling himself from the wreckage, bright energy flaring around him.

 

Cortex stared at the sight in disbelieve, his mind failing to process what he was seeing. What happened? How did he survive? It was then he noticed the crystal on the floor not far from him, having lost its glow and was now pitch black.

 

The man’s eyes widen in horror. The crystal’s power….had gone inside of him!

**\------**

 

Aku-Aku lay stiffly on the floor after the explosion. He could hear voices talking somewhere, but he couldn’t move to see what was going on. He could almost feel the ground shaking beneath him too.

 

He closed his eyes and tried to gather as much of his power as possible until he broke free from the effect of whatever the doctor had done to him.

 

The mask winced when he felt another crack forming on his chin. He had already used a lot of power than what he was used to and it was starting to take its toll on him. He should be careful with what he had left. Glancing over, he gasped when he saw Coco lying on the ground unconscious.

 

“Coco!” He quickly flew over to check on the girl. “Are you alright? Wake up!” He muttered, but no matter what he said she wouldn’t respond to his voice. She must have hit her head when they were knocked away by the explosion.

 

Speaking of that, he turned to see what was happening where the Vortex used to be and was startled by the creature standing there.

 

His body was hard to make out and looked almost like a dark silhouette than anything, but pink and white energy was burning around him, one Aku-Aku sensed before. The creature’s movements were slow and slightly sluggish as if walking hurt him.

 

It didn’t take long for him to recognize the figure’s body shape and his eyes widen. _Crash!?_

 

Dr. Cortex meanwhile was backing away from the angry creature approaching him. “N-Now, now Crash. C-Calm down. I’m….I’m sure we can talk this out.” He said, smiling nervously.

 

Crash’s glowing eyes narrowed at the man and he snarled, bolts of energy lashing out from within him causing the giant screen and all the windows in the lab to somehow explode. Some hit the walls and pillars leaving cracks in them.

Cortex screamed and stumbled back in fear. He turned to his mutants. “What are you waiting for, you fools!? Attack him!” he yelled, pointing a shaking finger at Crash.

 

His minions hesitated and seemed afraid of approaching the bandicoot. Koala Kong then finally stepped forward and growled before charging at Crash.

 

Crash only threw his hands forward and the large mutant was instantly blasted away into a wall. If the mutants were afraid before then they were terrified now and immediately scrambled to the exit door, not wanting to face him.

 

“Where are you going, you cowards!? Come back here!” Cortex yelled only to hear low growl behind him. Crash’s attention was now fully on him and he stammered in panic. “S-Stay back!” He yelped when a chunk of the ceiling suddenly fell not far from where he was.

 

Now Aku-Aku knew he wasn’t imagining it now. The ground beneath them was indeed shaking. He could see the cracks in the walls growing bigger as the tremors continued.

 

The castle was collapsing.

 

Panicking, Cortex ran across the room and got on his jet board.

 

“D-Dr. Cortex, wait for me!” Brio exclaimed and grabbed onto him just in time before he took off, escaping through one of the broken windows.

 

Crash growled angrily at the fleeing humans, gritting his teeth. Then he turned to the only ones left in the room.

 

Aku-Aku tensed up under the bandicoot’s gaze, not knowing what to do or expect as he approached them. “Crash?” he asked wary and unsure.

 

He was surprised when Crash nodded and knelt down in front of his sister staring at her in concern. He slowly reached his hand out to her, but then hesitated and pulled it back, looking suddenly wary of the burning energy coming out him.

 

Aku-Aku couldn’t see his face clearly through the blackness covering him, but his expression almost looked….sad. More pieces of the ceiling kept falling and Crash looked up at Aku-Aku helplessly as if asking what to do.

 

Aku-Aku bit his lip and tried to think of a way out of this. Suddenly, an idea hit him. “Crash listen, I think I have enough power to teleport us back to the islands!” He lied.

 

He didn’t know if he had enough power to save himself, let alone the three of them considering how drained he felt at the moment, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

 

Crash didn’t seem convinced and he wondered if he saw through his lie. The bandicoot glanced down at his sister briefly in consideration and then finally met his gaze. _“Save her,”_ he said and the mask was surprise by how raspy his voice was. It sounded so weak, so faint.

 

“Crash, you-”

 

 _“Please.”_ He cut him off, looking at him pleadingly.

 

Aku-Aku’s face fell and he found himself at loss of words, having realized what the bandicoot wanted him to do.

 

No, he couldn’t just leave. Not without him! _There has to be another way!_

 

But no matter how much he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t think of anything and they were running out of time. He looked down at the floor and screwed his eyes shut feeling all of his senses screaming at him to argue, to refuse, but in the end he sighed. “Alright,”

 

He flew over Coco and summoned whatever power he had left, green light bathing the two of them. He then opened his eyes, gaze lingering on the mutant before him and hesitated.

 

There was so much he wanted to tell him, so much to apologize for, but he couldn’t find the right words to say.

 

Crash gave him one final nod as if assuring him to go. In a flash, the two finally disappeared leaving him alone in the room as everything continued failing apart around him.

 

Crash looked around the lab, the place where it all began as larger chunks of the ceiling fell crushing the machines and tables nearby. The floor began to crumble.

 

He didn’t care what will happen next. Those two were safe now and that’s all that mattered to him. He closed his eyes and soon everything around him was no more.

 

**\------**

 

Meanwhile on the island, Aku-Aku and Coco appeared in a flash of light on the beach. While the girl lay motionless in the sand, Aku-Aku could barely stay floating as the rain poured over them.

 

May more cracks and dents had appeared on his face and the golden light in his eyes began to flicker. He felt as if he might shatter into hundreds of pieces at any minute. It took so much out of him to keep his form together now.

 

He then turned around and stared in horror as the castle in the distance slowly collapsed in on itself and sank into the sea.

 

“CRASH!” He screamed loudly, but only the sound of the rain answered him.

 

**\------**

 

When Coco had finally woke up, she asked him what happened to him and how they got all the way out here, but he refused to tell her anything until he led her to the old house where they were safe from the storm.

 

Once they were inside, she immediately asked him again only this time about where Crash was and he knew he couldn’t stall any longer. He quietly explained to her everything that happened while she was out, about the castle and her brother. The girl didn’t take it well and immediately broke down crying. Aku-Aku watched her sob silently, not knowing what to say.

 

What can he say?

 

There was nothing he could tell her that would make this all better, nothing at all. He could only stand with her, listening to her sobs and the sound of the rain falling outside.

 

Three days then passed since the castle was destroyed. There was no sign of Cortex or his minions anywhere and Aku-Aku found himself wondering where they went and why haven’t they returned yet, but he didn’t dwell on that for long.

 

Now that no one was left to operate the bases all over the islands and the factory was destroyed, the mask could feel it. The islands were slowly recovering. He could also feel the cracks on his face beginning to disappear and all of his powers that he lost long ago gradually returning at last.

 

It was finally over. For many years he had dreamed of this and now it was finally happening.

 

He just wished he didn’t have to lose his friend to have this.

 

It wasn’t fair, none of it was. Crash didn’t do anything to deserve this. Ever since he first met him, the bandicoot tried to help them even when he had no reason to.

 

He….he was a hero. He had saved everyone in the islands and none of them knew what he had gone through for them!

 

While Aku-Aku kept an eye out in case the scientist returned again, he spent a lot of his time with Coco who kept herself locked in the house most of the day. He tried to get her to go outside and show her around the island. After all, this was her first time setting foot outside of the castle and he expected her to be thrilled to be here.

 

_Just like Crash had been._

 

While Coco seemed to appreciate the distraction, she didn’t show much enthusiasm whenever he took her to the forest or told her about the animals and plants here.

 

The walls in the house weren’t very thick and there were nights when he would hear her crying in the bedroom.

 

What baffled Aku-Aku the most though was the fact that Coco didn’t seem to hate him for what happened to her brother, but how could she not when he was responsible for all of this?

 

If he had been strong enough, he would have stopped Cortex alone and so many people wouldn’t have suffered for so long.

 

If he had been more trusting then Crash wouldn’t have felt so betrayed by him and headed to the castle without any planning.

 

He failed. It wasn’t Aku-Aku who saved the islands. He couldn’t even protect his own friend when he needed him!

 

What kind of guardian was he?

 

_It’s all my fault. Everything….._

 

Even though Aku-Aku had come to accept that Crash was gone and never coming back, a small part of him still hoped desperately, _irrationally_ that his friend somehow survived and was somewhere out there safe and alive.

 

_Please prove me wrong…..just like you always do._

 

**\------**

 

One night, Aku-Aku flew into the house through after being gone for several hours. It was really late and the sun should be rising soon. He just came back from patrolling the islands more to give himself _something_ to do with his time than anything else.

 

The villagers had noticed the disappearance of Cortex’s castle in the sea and asked him about it earlier that night. When he told them that the evil man and his minions were gone, they cheered and started praising him nonstop even when he tried to tell them over and over that he wasn’t the only one they should be thanking.

 

Sighing, he floated through the quiet house and decided to check on Coco like usual. When he didn’t hear anything from beyond the door, he slipped inside to make sure she was okay only to find the bedroom empty.

 

Aku-Aku raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why wasn’t she in her room? Where could she be at this hour? The mask flew out of the room and began calling out. “Coco? Where are you?”

 

When no answer came, he panicked and started searching frantically for the girl. Did Cortex come back? Did they take her with them? The thought terrified him. After searching all of the rooms in the house, he flew out of the window to look for her in the forest when he saw her sitting outside in the doorway.

 

“There you are, I’ve looked everywhere for you!” Aku-Aku muttered in relief, glad nothing bad happened to her. Since he entered from the back of the house, he hadn’t seen her there.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.” She said quietly.

 

Aku-Aku frowned in concern. “How long have you been out here? Why aren’t you in bed?”

 

“For a while and….I couldn’t sleep.” She answered. Aku-Aku noticed the tearstains in her cheeks and nodded in understanding. He stood with the girl awkwardly for a minute, noticing her gazing emptily at the shore and felt the guilt and shame that had been stewing within him for days once again.

 

Eventually, he spoke up. “Coco, I’m….I’m sorry about what happened to your brother. It’s all my fault. I wish I’ve done something to save him somehow.” He said hesitantly, voice filled with regret.

 

Coco blinked in surprise. “What? Hey, don’t say that! None of that was your fault. I mean, I’m the reason you two went to the castle in the first place!”

 

How could she be mad at the mask or even accuse him of anything when he had done so much to keep them safe? No, Coco only had herself to blame. “I wasn’t even awake when Crash got-”

 

“Coco, you hit your head back there!” Aku-Aku muttered firmly, refusing to let the girl take any of the blame. She had already suffered enough.

 

Coco raised an eyebrow at this. “So you’d defend me, but not yourself?”

 

Aku-Aku opened his mouth to respond and then clamped up, looking away in embarrassment.

 

“Look, I miss my big brother a lot, but I can’t blame you for what happened. You did everything you could to help us so don’t beat yourself over it, okay? If there is anyone to blame then it’s Cortex,” She said the last part sharply, but then her face softened. “Besides, if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be here right now,” she added with a small smile.

 

Aku-Aku could only stare for a moment before nodding at her words, finding it funny how she was comforting him now when he should be the one doing that.

 

The two sat there watching the shore for a while in a comfortable silence as the sky slowly turned a light shade of orange. Eventually, Aku-Aku decided they had stayed out long enough.

 

“Are you ready to go inside?” He asked and Coco slowly nodded. He turned to the door and waited for her to open it, but frowned when she didn’t. He glanced back to see her staring at something behind them, her brows furrowed.

 

He was about to ask her what was wrong when she began walking away from him and the door. “Coco?” he muttered confused.

 

But the girl didn’t respond to his voice. Her slow gait suddenly became a full on sprint as she ran towards the beach.

 

“Coco!” Aku-Aku called out as he hurried after her in worry until he saw she finally stopped. “What has gotten into you…?” He followed the girl’s gaze and trailed off when he saw a figure in the distance walking (limping?) their way. Charging up his magic in case it’d be a threat, he squinted to see them better and once he did, Aku-Aku’s thoughts came to a screeching halt.

 

_Impossible. It couldn’t be….._

 

Coco didn’t realize she was running until she nearly tripped and fell into the ground, but she didn’t care. She didn’t stop. She scrambled as fast as her legs could carry her and threw her arms around her _brother_ , almost knocking him off his feet. She didn’t try hold back her tears as she sobbed into his shoulder.

 

“I missed you so much...” She murmured tearfully and felt his hand patting her back gently. When she finally pulled away, she immediately noticed the state he was in. His hair was disheveled, there were burnt patches of fur all over his body, tears in his pants and she knew they had to deal with all of that immediately. Despite the pain he was probably feeling, her brother tried to give her his usual goofy grin.  

 

She could feel more tears welling up in her and quickly whipped them away.

 

“I-I can’t believe it. You’re alive!” Aku-Aku exclaimed in relief as he flew over to the two siblings. Crash’s smile immediately fell when he saw him and he averted his gaze to the ground. Coco was stunned by this and gave the mask a concerned look.

 

Aku-Aku’s warm expression crumbled, feeling hurt by the rejection. He then remembered his promise to the mutant. He had said he would leave once they got his sister back and never come back.

 

It was time to keep that promise.

 

“I’m sorry, I…I’ll be leaving you two now.” With that, he turned around reluctantly and began floating away.

 

“Hey!”

 

Aku-Aku flinched and looked back at Crash to see what he wanted to say to him. Whatever it was, he knew he deserved it.

 

Crash stared at him with an unreadable look in his eyes for a moment then….he smiled and held his hand out for him.

 

To say Aku-Aku was shocked was an understatement. His mind couldn’t comprehend this.

 

B-But _why!?_ Why would the bandicoot even consider forgiving him after everything he put him through? He had doubted Crash so easily back then even after all things he done to protect the islands. Crash had every right to never want to see him again and yet here he was offering him another chance.

 

He just couldn’t understand!

 

 _But then again_ , _have I understood him before?_ Aku-Aku remembered how he once was filled with anger and resentment towards mutants, believing they were all evil and merciless. Then he met Crash, the one mutant he had considered an anomaly back then, who had confused him to no end, who he, without realizing it, had grown to think of as a friend.

 

 _What is it about you that changed me so much?_ Aku-Aku thought as he stared at his outstretched hand, a smile slowly making its across his face before flying back to the two siblings, letting himself be held by Crash as well.

 

“Now let’s get you inside so we can patch you up, big brother.” Coco stated after he let go of the mask.

 

Crash nodded with a smile as he placed his arm over her shoulder and let her lead him back to their house.

 

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> : And done! I’ve been working on this fic for almost ten months and now it’s finally over which makes it the longest story I’ve ever wrote and the one I’ve spent the most time on it. Thank you guys so much for sticking with me this far. I’m really glad you all enjoyed it!
> 
> Here's the link to the final drawing to celebrate the end of this fic. http://extremelight9.tumblr.com/image/164213838106
> 
> Now I would like to thank everyone who supported my fic Something About You.
> 
> Gregorian
> 
> PewCryBusOsh
> 
> Bug
> 
> And AnoNiemRelaas
> 
> Until next time


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